What Hurts The Most
by MischievousLeprechaun
Summary: Sophie finds herself in the Narnian forest with no recollection of Earth life. What happend, and what does Aslan want? She realises she is not alone, what will she do? Where will love fall? Fights, love and confusion of the heart. EdmundXOC  sum inside
1. Prologue

_**Summary -**_** Sophie finds herself in the Narnian forest with no recollection of Earth life. What happened to her, and what does Aslan want with her? When she realises she is not alone in the forest, how does she react, and where will love fall? Fights, love, confusion of the heart, drama and dances. Will Sophie ever find her man without breaking everyone's heart, including her own?**

**A/N: I will warn you now, this story will be updated slowly until the drama/angst starts, where it will get better. I hope. It should only be a few chapters in, judging by the length of them. This is just a sort of prologue, to introduce the 'main' character and stuff. But I probably should start with formalities, huh?**

**This is my first Narnia fiction that isn't a one shot. I really wanted to do this, so I started writing little 'scenes' and have decided to put them together and build on it. I know that later on it's going to get confusing, but it's Narnia, so it's got to have a HEA! And it will :) This is an EdmundXOC fic, because Edmund never gets the girls easy, an I do quite like him. Anyway! On with the opening!**

_**What Hurts The Most – Prologue**_  
><em><br>The ground is cold. But a wet kind of cold. A wet, crispy kind of cold. A snow cold._

The girl opened her eyes, and saw evergreen pine trees towering above her. And they were coated in snow. _Snow! Snow of all things! Snow. Snow, in August!_

She was still staring in disbelief at the snow, when she realised she should get up. It wouldn't be wise now, to be laying in the cold snow - _where I could get pneumonia!_ - in a place where she actually didn't know where she was. She didn't know what had happened to her. _One minute I was..._

_Wait a second._ She sat bolt upright, throwing light dustings of snow off of her chest.

_What had I been doing before here? Why couldn't I remember?_

She brushed the snow away from her legs, and shakily got to her feet. A little bit of snow fell from her dark hair as she bent forwards, to bring her feet underneath her.

_How did I get so covered in snow?_

"So you're awake now." A big, powerful, rumbling voice said. The girl jumped and stared all around her in fright, spinning in tight circles.

"I am here, young one." The voice said again. Finally, she spun in the correct direction, to face the biggest and most majestic lion anyone had ever seen.

"H-h-hello?" She stammered out, unsure of what to do. The majestic lion nodded his head, and laughed. At least, it sounded like a laugh. One can't be too sure about lions.

"I'm sure you have plenty of questions, but all will be answer in time, my dear." He said bowing his head.

"First things first, however. Do you remember your name?" He asked the girl.

"Sophie Abigail Stevenson." She nodded. Or Sophie, as we will refer to her as from now on.

"Good." Said the lion. "I am Aslan, the ruler of Narnia. Which is the country in which you stand now."

Sophie nodded mutely, feeling slightly afraid.

"Why am I here, Aslan?" Sophie asked, sounding more confident than she felt.

"That is for you to find out." Aslan's voice boomed, repeating the word 'out' and fading. Sophie felt like the world was shaking around her, then suddenly she saw the air shimmer, and where she was standing changed. She felt like she was flying through the air, and then suddenly she was flung backwards.

"Woah!" She cried, as her feet hit the floor. She still had the momentum from the whole flying-through-the-air thing, and she hurled backwards, falling into the snow. The snow crunched beneath her as she landed with a thump in the snow.

**A/N: This is SUPER short I know, but the next chapter makes up for it, I promise. Sophie meets the Pevensies'! Please read on, I promise it won't be as crappy as this!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, the first proper chapter! This is longest chapter I've ever written, so I'm quite proud of it! I hope you like this. Sophie meets Edmund, and stalks the Pevensies'! Oh dear :L This is fairly drama free, but I know it won't be in about 5 chapters time!**

_**What Hurts The Most – Chapter 1  
><strong>_

Sophie felt like the world was shaking around her, then suddenly she saw the air shimmer, and where she was standing changed. She felt like she was flying through the air, and then suddenly she was flung backwards.

"Woah!" She cried, as her feet hit the floor. She still had the momentum from the whole flying-through-the-air thing, and she hurled backwards, falling into the snow. The snow crunched beneath her as she landed with a thump in the snow.

"Urgh!" Sophie said, jumping up instantly.

"Great." She muttered to herself. "First I don't know what happens to me and wake up in some part of a snowy forest, then I talk to some talking lion and _then_ I get flung through the air and end up in _another_ part of a snowy forest!" Sophie brushed herself down, dusting the snow off of her body and out of her hair. "What a fantastic day!" She said sarcastically, looking around and taking in her surroundings. All around her was just dense evergreen forest. She sighed. Then, between the trees she caught sight of a light. Confused as to why a light would be in the middle of the forest, Sophie went to walk towards it, when she heard voices.

"Urgh!" A girl's voice cried. "It's pretty cold. What about putting on some of these coats?"

_What coats?_ Sophie thought. A boy's voice answered the girl, but Sophie couldn't make out what he said. Sophie listened harder and could only hear some foot stomping and snow crushing, and also air swooshing. Suddenly, there was the sound of feet coming her way, and Sophie dived behind the nearest tree. Presently, four children walked into view.

Three had dark brown hair, and one had floppy blond hair. Two girls, both dark haired, and two boys, the blond and the remaining brunette. The blond appeared to the oldest - about 16 maybe? - and a natural leader. The next oldest must've been one of the girls. She must've been about 15, and was very beautiful. Her glossy brown hair hung straight down her back. Sophie sighed, and twisted a lock of her strawberry blonde hair around her finger. She wished she had hair like hers, rather than an out of control explosion on her head. The other girl looked to be about 8, and she too, had hair like her sister. The final boy, looked sulky and miserable. His brown hair was a tangled mess on top of his head. He must've been around 13.

_Same age as me!_ Sophie thought.

The four children came to a stop. The oldest boy said something, that Sophie didn't catch, and then the youngest boy started muttering to himself. At the same time, the oldest girl said, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I think Lu ought to be the leader," Said the blond boy, "Goodness knows she deserves it. Where will you take us Lu?" He turned to face the youngest girl and smiled, the tail of his coat swinging.

"What about going to see Mr Tumnus?" She said. "He's the nice faun I told you about."

_A faun? One of those, half man half goat things?_ Sophie looked at the group, and realised they were starting to walk away, chatting amongst themselves. Sophie moved out from under the tree and began to follow them.

Presently, they arrived at the cave. The four children stopped and stared, and Lu gasped. Sophie stopped, too. She stared at the sight before her, and watched as the little group disappeared inside the cave. The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Snow had drifted in the doorway, and was all Sophie could see from her current point behind trees.

_I feel like a stalker, watching these four people. But I have to wait for an appropriate time to meet them_. Sophie sighed. She didn't like this one bit.

It wasn't long before the group trudged outside. The blond boy held up a sheet of paper and began to read it. Sophie was too far away to hear anything they said, and she cursed herself for not moving closer when she had the chance. They continued to talk, when suddenly the youngest, Lu, exclaimed something, and flung her arms out. The brown haired boy muttered something in reply, and the blond turned to silence him.

"What do you think Susan?" Sophie heard faintly, coming from the blond to the eldest girl. She answered him, looked worried. He nodded at Susan, and said something to them

all. The girls agreed, and then Sophie heard the boy say, "If only we knew where the poor chap was imprisoned!"

Nobody seemed to move for a few minutes, before Lu started pointing at something. The four children progressed towards it, Sophie following silently in the trees behind them, looking more sinister than she meant to.

It was about half an hour, before the two boys dropped back to whisper to each other, and the bird (it was what Lu had been pointing at) flew away.

All four children stopped and stared in dismay. Then they started to look around, staring into the bushes. Sophie ducked down, almost sitting on the floor. She was afraid she'd been seen. She stayed there for a few minutes, before peeping around the bush.

The blond boy was talking to a beaver, but in a different place. The trees were denser, and it was darker, so Sophie managed to sneak closer. She just heard the beaver saying something about dinner, and they set off walking again. She sighed. _They never stopped walking, did they?_

Sophie followed them to the beaver's dam, but decided not to go anywhere near. She waited patiently behind a tree for a good five minutes. Then her legs got tired. She sat down in the snow, not caring if she got wet; she was too tired to care. Presently, she yawned and stretched her legs out, for she had had them tucked up under her chin. She waited another ten minutes, before closing her eyes.

_I won't go to sleep. _She thought to herself_. I can't. I might miss them._

It could not have been much longer than five minutes, when somebody approached Sophie. She of course, didn't see them, and therefore they didn't see her. There was a thump, two awfully loud yells, a whumph, and then silence. Apart from the heavy breathing that is. There was a thump, two awfully loud yells, a whumph, and then silence. Apart from the heavy breathing that is.

"Who's there?" A boy's voice asked, warily.

"I'm Sophie. Who are you?" Sophie replied.

"None of your business." The boy replied coldly, sitting on his knees.

"Nice to meet you, none-of-your-business." Sophie smiled, retracting her legs.

"My name's Edmund, alright?" He stood up, brushed the snow off, and started to walk. Sophie quickly followed him.

"What're you doing out here then, Edmund? Why aren't you inside with the others?" She asked, running to catch up with him.

"How do you know they're inside?" Edmund snapped, defensively.

"Oh. Uhm, I arrived shortly before you and then um, followed you here."

"Like a stalker!" Edmund was outraged, and his walking got faster.

"I suppose so. God, slow down will you?" Sophie added, struggling to keep up with him.

"No. Oh, go away can't you?" Edmund huffed.

"I don't think I can." Sophie said softly, bringing her hand to her face.

"What do you mean?" Edmund stopped, and turned to face her, his voice slightly softer, but he was still frowning.

"I-I don't know. I just get the feeling I'm alone here. I don't even know how I got here, or where I was before. I can't really explain it."

Edmund was scowling, deeply. "Well that's not my fault. So leave me alone." And he marched away again.

"And what if I don't want to?" Sophie pressed.

"Don't think I'll talk to you. You should just go back to wherever you came from." He snapped back, not looking at her.

"Oh for God sake, Edmund! I've already told you - I don't know where I came from! All I know is my name, and things about me. I don't even know if I had parents or family!" Sophie yelled, throwing her arms out.

"And I've already said, that's not my fault!" Edmund yelled back, taking a step closer to her.

"I didn't say it was." Sophie said stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest.

"So stop following me." Edmund demanded, turning away again.

"Why do you care what I do!" Sophie yelled, fuming.

"I don't. So stop talking to me, and leave me alone." Edmund and Sophie both starting walking again, both seething in anger.

By this time, snow was beginning to fall, and Sophie's anger began to ebb.

"Edmund, I'm-"

"Save it." Edmund said sharply. Sophie sighed. She didn't know what to do about him.

Snow was falling in her hair, and on her clothes. She was getting wet, and cold. She began to shiver, while Edmund trudged on through the snow. He wasn't cold as such. Just a bit. Or so he pretended. Really, he was freezing, but he wasn't going to admit that to himself, or that troublesome girl who decided to follow him. He scowled. Just wait until he was King! He'd have proper roads built, and-and...

Well, this set him off thinking about what kind of palace he would have and how many cars and all about his private cinema and where the principle railways would run and what laws he would make against beavers and dams and was just putting the finishing touches to some schemes for putting Peter in place, when the weather changed.

First the snow stopped. Sophie sighed with relief and wiped the snow out of her eyes. But then a wind sprang up and it became freezing cold. Finally, the clouds rolled away and the moon came out. It was a full moon and, shining on all that snow, it made everything almost as bright as day - only the shadows were rather confusing. Both Edmund and Sophie sighed with relief.

They would never have found their way if the mood hadn't come put by the time he got to the other river that Edmund had seen when he first arrived at the Beavers'. They now reached this and turned to follow it up.

But the little valley down which it came was much steeper and rockier than the one they had just left and much overgrown with bushes, so they could not have managed it at all in the dark. Even as it was, he got wet through for he had to stoop under branches, and great lots of snow came sliding off onto his back. Sophie fell and twisted her ankle at one point on the rocky ground.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, as her ankle twisted and gave out. Edmund ignored her and carried on.

"Edmund! Oh, Edmund! Please come back!"

Edmund froze. He didn't want to go back to her, but there was something in her voice that made him stop and turn. Sophie was sat on the ground, nursing her ankle.

"Edmund!" She cried again, looking up at him. Edmund sighed, and walked back to her.

"Here." He held out his hand to help her up. Sophie took it gratefully smiling up at him. Although he tried hard not too, he couldn't help smiling back.

Sophie gingerly tested her ankle, and winced. Then she sighed. "I don't think I can stand on it just yet."

"Can't you just limp?" Edmund asked, frowning at her and trying to take back his hand. Sophie staggered and almost fell.

"Okay, okay. Here, give me your arm." He said stiffly. He put her arm over his shoulders. Sophie smiled at him again, and they started walking again.

At last they came to a part where it was more level and the valley opened out. And there, on the other side of the river, quite close to him, in the middle of a little plain between two hills, Edmund saw what must be the White Witches House. Sophie just saw a small castle.

It seemed to be all towers; little towers with long pointed spires on them, sharp as needles. They shone in the moonlight and their long shadows looked strange on the snow. Edmund began to feel afraid of the House.

Sophie tested her ankle again, and it seemed okay to stand on, so she gingerly put it down. Edmund removed his arm from her shoulders, and Sophie instinctively grabbed his hand.

"Is this where you were headed?" Sophie whispered.

Edmund nodded. "Yes. The Queen promised to make me a prince if I came here."

"Are you sure you want to go in?" Sophie asked gently, holding Edmund's hand tighter.

It was too late to think of turning back now. Edmund nodded, and together, with Sophie limping, they began to cross the ice.

**A/N: So! What did you think of that? I have copied parts out of the book to keep the story the same, just changed the words a little to fit Sophie in. I'll keep doing that until I can write independently, and write my own part. I want to keep it as similar as I can, just adding in an extra character…**  
><strong>Review for the next chapter! I'm going to go with… 3 reviews per new chapter, because this takes up 3 chapters of the book! See my logic? Thanks guys!<strong>

**Livy ~ xx**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, three reviews and chapter 2 is up! Wow, this is the first regulated update I've _ever_ done, I do believe! But this chapter is awful for stealing from the book, so I'd better disclaim it. I meant to at the start but I got carried away! This is my longest chapter, over 3,250 words!**

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: I can't really say too much about that without giving away half the plot! But in the _very_ end, yes, there is a girl for Peter, not that she is mentioned much. She is just dancing with him at the final ball… and if I say anymore I will have given too much away!**

**Peter The Perfect: Thank you! I was worried people were going to think I was just stealing somebody else's ideas and twisting it a little. Thank you :) and I will, I am loving writing this story! Does that make me weird? **

**Farmer Boy: Aha, I know you! Thanks for reviewing, regardless. Now it means you can have the next chapter! And it won't take you a year to read, you read 32,000 words over Facebook, so you'll survive. And you get the… feelings, I suppose, that I'm trying get across! And don't worry, its updated!**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belong to C.S Lewis and co. This is a purely non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. **

_**What Hurts The Most – Chapter 2**_

There was nothing stirring; not the slightest sound anywhere. Even Sophie and Edmund's own feet made no noise on the deep newly fallen snow. They walked on and on, hands tightly clasped, past corner after corner of the house, and past turret after turret. They had to go round around to the far side before they found it. It was a huge arch but the great iron gates stood wide open.

Edmund crept up to the arch and looked inside into the courtyard, and there he saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop beating. He clutched at Sophie's hand harder, which was so unlike him, that Sophie went to see what all the fuss was about. She put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

Just inside the gates, the with moonlight shining on it, stood an enormous lion crouched as if it was ready to spring. And Edmund and Sophie stood in the shadow of the arch, both afraid to go on and Edmund afraid to go back. They stood there together for so long that their teeth would have been chattering with cold had they not been chattering with fear. How long this lasted I don't know, but to Edmund and Sophie it seemed like hours.

Then at last Edmund began to wonder why the lion was standing so still.

"I say!" He hissed to Sophie, "Why hasn't that lion moved?"

Sophie just shrugged, as she was afraid that if she opened her mouth she would scream.

Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could and dragging a reluctant Sophie on the end of his arm. He now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been looking at them at all.

"Look!" Sophie whispered, finally swallowing her fear. "It's staring at that little dwarf over there!" She pointed with her free hand to a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away.

"So when it springs at the dwarf then will be our chance to escape." Said Edmund to Sophie, who had ducked behind him, not wishing to see the little dwarf ripped to pieces.

But still the lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. And then at last Edmund remembered what the other had said about the White Witch turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone lion. As soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with snow. Of course it must only be a statue! No living animal would have let itself get covered with snow. Then, very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst, Edmund ventured to go up to the lion.

"No, Edmund don't!" Sophie squeaked, tugging on his hand. But Edmund ignored her.

Even now he hardly dared to touch it, but at last he put out his hand, very quickly, and did. It was cold stone. They had been frightened of a mere statue!

"It's fine, it just a statue." Edmund said, pretending to have been brave the whole time.

The relief Sophie and Edmund felt was so great that in spite of the cold they suddenly got warm all over right down to their toes, and at the same time there came into Edmund's head what he thought to be a perfectly lovely idea.

"This is probably the great Lion Aslan!" He said to Sophie, grinning. Sophie stared at him, then flicked her eyes to the lion.

"No!" She said, putting both hands to her mouth and gasping. "It can't be!"

"I bet it is." Edmund said, sneering at her. "She's caught him already and turned him into stone. So that's the end of all their fine ideas about him! Pooh! Who's afraid of Aslan?"

As he stood there gloating over the stone lion, Sophie suddenly felt hot all over, and glared at Edmund, her eyes flashing.

"What?" He asked innocently, seeing her glare from the corner of his eye.

"I've spoken to Aslan." She said quietly, but her voice was steely. "He is more powerful and majestic than this lion, and also than you give him credit for. So just shut your mouth!" She said, before storming past the lion and across the courtyard.

Edmund stared at her retreating figure momentarily, before quickly hurrying after her.

As they reached the middle of the courtyard, they saw that there were dozens of statues all about - standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chessboard when it is halfway through the game.

There were stone satyrs, and stone wolves, and bears and foxes and cat-a-mountains of stone. There were lovely stone shapes that looked like women but who were really the spirits of trees. There was the great shape of a centaur and a winged horse and a long lithe creature that Edmund took to be a dragon. They all looked so strange standing there perfectly life like and also perfectly still, in the bright cold moonlight, that it was very eerie work crossing the courtyard.

Right in the very middle stood a huge shape like a man, but as tall as a tree, with a fierce face and a shaggy beard and a great club in its right hand. Even though he knew that it was only a stone giant and not a live one, Edmund did not like going past it. Sophie didn't notice it, as she carried on marching past.

Edmund saw that there was a dim light showing from a doorway on the far side of the courtyard. He grabbed for Sophie's hand, and began to tow her towards it. There was a flight of stone steps going up to an open door. They went up them. Across the threshold lay a great wolf.

"It's all right, it's all right." He said to Sophie. "It's only a stone wolf. It can't hurt us." As he raised his leg to step over it, the huge creature rose, with all the hair bristling along its back. It opened a great, red mouth and said in a growling voice:

"Who's there? Who's there? Stand still, stranger, and tell me who you are."

"If you please, sir," said Edmund, trembling so that he could hardly speak. Sophie ducked behind him, trying not to scream. Edmund continued, as Sophie grabbed one of his hands and held it tightly.

"My name is Edmund, and I'm the Son of Adam that Her Majesty met in the wood the other day and I've come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in Narnia - quite close, in the beavers' house. She - she wanted to see them."

"And who is this?" The wolf said, craning his head around to look at Sophie.

"This is Sophie, a Daughter of Eve." Edmund answered, seeing Sophie unable of speech.

"I will tell Her Majesty," said the Wolf. "Meanwhile, stand still on the threshold, as you value your life." Then it vanished into the house.

"It's fine, the Queen asked me here." Edmund said, his voice not sounding at all confident.

"Yes but not me!" Sophie squeaked, eyes wide with terror. If she had known it would have come to this, she would rather have walked into the Beaver's house and announced who she was! She clutched at Edmund's hand in fright as the grey wolf, Maugrim, the Chief of the Witch's Secret Police, came bounding back and said, "Come in! Come in! Fortunate favourite of the Queen - or else not so fortunate."

And Edmund went in, towing Sophie and taking great care not to treat on the wolf's paws. They found themselves in a long gloomy hall with many pillars, full, as the courtyard had been, of statues. The one nearest the door was a little faun with a very sad expression on it's face, so sad in fact, that it made Sophie's heart want to break. Edmund could help wondering if it might be Lucy's friend.

The only light came from a single lamp, and close beside this sat the White Witch.

"I've come, your Majesty," Said Edmund, rushing eagerly forwards. Sophie jolted forward, then let go of Edmund and rocked backwards, unwilling to go anywhere near the Witch.

"How dare you come alone?" Said the Witch in a terrible voice. "Did I not tell you to bring the others with you?"

"Please, your Majesty," Said Edmund, "I've done the best I can. I've brought them quite close. They're in the little house on top of the dam just up the river - with Mr and Mrs Beaver."

Sophie gasped, alerting the Witch to her presence. He meant to betray his family! How could he! Sophie, of course, couldn't remember if she had any family, so the idea of betrayal seemed worse. If she knew she had family she wouldn't hurt them in this way!

"And who is this?" The Witch asked, her voice softer, smiling a slow cruel smile.

"I'm Sophie, ma'am. I mean your Majesty." Sophie said, giving an awkward curtsey. She was never taught how so she had to guess. The White Witch raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Is this the girl you chose to be your Queen?" She sneered at Edmund.

"No, your Majesty." Edmund said, turning to scowl at Sophie. Sophie's eyes widened in fear as she saw the Witch's cruel eyes turn towards her.

"So why are you here then?"

"I-I came with Edmund, your Majesty" Sophie said, not knowing what else to say. The Witch turned to Edmund. A perfectly beastly idea came into his head, but for some reason, he could not bring himself to execute it.

"She did. But I would not want her as my Queen, your Majesty." Edmund said.

"Is this all your news?" She asked.

"No, your Majesty," Said Edmund, and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the Beavers' house.

"What! Aslan?" Cried the Queen, "Aslan! Is this true? If I find you have lied to me-"

"Please, I'm only repeating what they said," stammered Edmund.

But the Queen, who was no longer attending to him, clapped her hands. Instantly, the same dwarf whom Edmund had seen with her before appeared.

"Make ready our sledge," ordered the Witch, "and use the harness without bells."

Sophie looked at Edmund, disappointed. He was going to betray his family; he was prepared to let that Witch kill his sisters and brother! He would've even given her to the 'Queen'! The - the... Beast!

Edmund was completely oblivious to the stony glare that Sophie was giving him, and was quite hoping the Witch would start being nice to him. But she said nothing at all. And when he plucked his courage to say, "Please, your Majesty, could I have some Turkish Delight? You - you - said - " she answered, "Silence, fool!" Then she appeared to change her mind and said, as if to herself, "And yet it will not do to have the brat fainting on the way," and once more clapped her hands. Another dwarf appeared.

"Bring the human boy food and drink. Then come back to deal with the girl." she said. Sophie stared at her, eyes wide with panic. What was she going to do to her?

The dwarf went away and presently returned bringing an iron bowl with some water in it, and an iron plate with a hunk of dry bread on it. He grinned in a repulsive manner as he set them down on the floor beside Edmund and said:

"Turkish Delight for the little Prince. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Take it away," Edmund said sulkily. "I don't want dry bread." But the Witch suddenly turned on him with such a terrible expression on her face that he apologised and began to nibble at the bread; though it was so stale he could hardly get it down.

"You maybe be glad enough of it before you taste bread again." said the Witch. "And now, for the girl." And she turned her eyes to Sophie. "Tie her hands and lock her in the dungeon. I didn't plan on having her here and she's of no use to anyone." She clapped her hands. "Take her away."

Tears sprung to Sophie's eyes as he felt her hands grabbed and bound tightly behind her. She looked to Edmund, who just looked back her, his eyes blank and expressionless. Sophie opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it, and looked at Edmund, pleading with her eyes. He continued to stare blankly.

Sophie blinked, and a tear escaped down her cheek as the dwarf towed her away. She passed statue after statue of stone animals, before the dwarf roughly pulled her aside and then pushed her into a cell. Sophie stumbled from the force, and went crashing to the ground. Unable to stop herself with her hands, she landed heavily on her knees. The dwarf laughed as he heard her cry out in pain, and the slid the door shut.

The stinging tears slipped down her cheeks, weak tears for she was in pain, not broken or emotional. But the pain was still excruciating, and Sophie couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. She tried to sit up so that she was sat on her bottom, with her legs curled beside her. She looked at the floor as tears dropped onto the cold stone.

She was going to kill Edmund. This was his fault! If he had just said he wanted her as his queen, whether he meant it or not, she would've been okay! And to trade his family's life for Turkish Delight! TURKISH BLOODY DELIGHT! The stuff was gross anyway! How could he do that?

Sophie sighed. Why couldn't she remember if she had a family?

Suddenly, there were footsteps outside her cell door. She looked up. It was just another dwarf, carrying bread and water, similar to what Edmund had received. He stopped outside, and opened the door.

"I'm under orders from the Queen to untie your hands and to bring you food and drink." And he placed the bread and bowl of water on the floor beside Sophie, and proceeded to untie the rope.

As it came away from her wrists, Sophie pulled her arms in front of her and rubbed each wrist in turn, before flexing them and wriggling her fingers. Trying to return the blood supply.

"Thank you." She said to the dwarf, who humphed and pulled the door shut and locked it.

Sophie looked up to what her cell was like. The floor was cold hard stone, as were the walls. There was one little window, high up the far wall but it had been boarded over. However the last person to be in her had pulled a chunk out of one edge, so Sophie could see part of the grey, cloudy sky. The door was floor to ceiling iron bars that extended halfway along the front wall. Sophie huffed. So this was her home for the next day or so. And who knew what'd happen to her then?

What about Aslan? What about all her unanswered questions? What about Edmund? What about his family, the Beavers and all the other Narnian creatures? Was Aslan not going to save them from the destruction of the Witch? Would he save her? Or was she destined to die in this cold stone cell?

_So many questions, and nobody to answer them_. She owed Edmund and good hard slap for this.

Sophie looked at the bread and water. _God knows when I'll get some more. She thought. Or should I say, Aslan knows?_ Sophie sighed again, and stretched out, laying on her stomach on the cold floor.

_What am I supposed to do now? Just wait for three days then drink? What about eating? How long could I go without food? I know three days is water. _  
>Sophie rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, and suddenly realised how exhausted she was. Her ankle had swollen a little, but had been okay to walk on. <em>Maybe I should go to sleep. That'll pass a few hours<em>.

Sophie opened her eyes and looked at her wrists, and realised she had been wearing her watch. It was about six thirty. She closed her eyes again and tried to sleep.

**A/N: Well, lots of stolen content, right until the end. The story starts to take its own direction more and more into the next few chapters! I just didn't want to put Sophie in and change everything. Next up, Sophie has an important present!**

**I'm going to knock it down to 2 reviews for the next chapter, because I don't want to be pushy! Hope you enjoyed this! **

**Livy ~ xx**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: So this chapter is on the short side again. Hum. Oh well. Thank you to reviewers, your replies are to follow! THIS CHAPTER HAS LES STOLEN CONTENT! Woo! I'm getting there. And I've been listening to MCR on a loop… I think they're helping me write. That… is so bizarre. Anyway, enough of my weirdo ramblings! **

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Okay, look! I updated :L**

**JustYourAverageWitch: Thank you! And here is your update!**

**Princess Of Narnia 1192: Thank you for all the favourites and alerts! And here's more for you. Thank you again! :)**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

_**Chapter 3 - What Hurts The Most**_

Edmund was probably having just as much fun as Sophie was. He was with the Witch, and it was a terrible journey, for he had no coat and therefore was rather cold.

Before they had been going for fifteen minutes, the front of him was all covered in snow. He soon stopped trying to shake it off, because as quickly as he did that, a new lot gathered, and he was so tired.

Oh, how miserable he was! It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King. All the things he had said to make himself believe she was good and kind and that her side really was the right side, sounded silly to him now. And what was she going to do to Sophie!

Although Edmund tried to deny to himself, he missed her. She had wanted to walk with him rather than go and talk to his family. But she was still annoying, he thought. He'd only known her about two hours, why did he care what the Witch did to her? But he vowed then to himself that if they both got out of this alive, that he would never let anything else hurt her.

He did not know that his promise to himself would hurt her more than anything.

Edmund sighed softly. The only way to comfort himself now was to try and believe that the whole thing was a dream and that he might wake up any second. And as they went on, hour after hour, it did come to seem like a dream.

It lasted longer than anyone could describe, even if they wrote pages and pages. So I'll skip to the morning, when the snow had stopped and it was daylight again.

Sophie had slept the whole night through, and was still asleep at this time. She still didn't wake up, as a dwarf came, and opened her door, and placed another plate of bread and bowl of water down.

It was the same dwarf as the day before; the one Sophie had thanked. She snored a little, and rolled over onto her back, for she had been sleeping on her side.

"Edmund..." She mumbled, before rolling onto her other side.

The dwarf chuckled slightly, and drew the door closed. Sophie's hair was an explosion again from rolling on it in her sleep, and it having gotten wet in the snow. She was dreaming.

She was sitting in her cell, and Father Christmas appeared before her.

"Sophie, Eve's Daughter." He said. She stood up and walked towards him, although she wasn't sure why. "This is for you." And he handed her a photograph. "Your gift will not help in battle or in skill as the others will, but it is important to you."

Sophie gazed into the frame, and looked at the picture there.

"Your family." Came another voice, deeper and stronger. Sophie recognised it instantly as Aslan's voice.

"Aslan!" She cried, running forwards and hugging him. Then she realised what she was doing. And backed off quickly. "I-I'm sorry, sir." She said, humbly.

Aslan laughed. "There is no need to be sorry child. I understand your wish for comfort. And do not worry about having no memory of your Earth life, it is not unusual, and you will gain partial memories." Aslan said.

"And do not blame the misfortune of being in this cell on Edmund. This was your choice to follow him rather than go into the Beavers' house, or introduce yourself earlier. Be fair to Edmund, for he could not help what he was doing. He had fallen to Witch's spell. But do not worry, for he shall be given chance to repent." Aslan said, nodding his great head.

"Please, Aslan?" Sophie asked. Aslan put his head to one side, inquiring.

"Have you come to free me?" Sophie asked, and then instantly felt foolish.

"No, child. But someone will come, in time and with my help. Do not worry, you will not be here much longer. Keep your gift close to you, and you might come to see the truth." Aslan said mysteriously. "But now it is time for you to wake!" As he said wake, he shook his head and tossed his mane. Sunlight seemed to pour from him and blinded Sophie. She blinked and screwed up her eyes to stop the sunlight getting too much.

When she opened her eyes fully, she was laying on her back in her cell. What had woken her was a bright stream of light coming in from the missing chunk in the window boarding. To Sophie, it didn't feel as cold as it had the previous night, but she didn't fully understand why.

_Did any of that really happen?_ Sophie thought. She stretched her arms out and yawned. One of her hands knocked against something and it clattered on the floor slightly. Sophie froze, then reached for it and pulled it up to her face. She drew her legs underneath her as she did, and sat up. She gasped when she saw the picture.

_Your family_. Aslan's words echoed in her head.

She had a family. She softly pressed the pad of a finger to the cheek of each person. She felt no attachment, but she expected that; she had no memory of a life outside this world.

The photo was of a family of five, under a tree. They were all smiling and laughing, eyes shining. The woman had an explosion of strawberry blonde hair on her head, as did the girl standing beside her.

_My mum and I._ Sophie thought, smiling sadly. The man standing with her mother, her dad, had light brown hair in a untidy mess. There were two other children in the photo.

_I had a brother and a sister! _Sophie thought. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about it. The boy, the eldest, was holding the younger girl. They both had their dad's hair.

As Sophie looked closer, she could see she and her dad shared their twinkling green eyes, whereas the rest of her family had her mother's deep blue eyes.

Sophie must've been ten when this photo was taken, dating the photo three years old. Her little sister looked about six, and her old brother looked fifteen.

Sophie had an urge to take the photo out of its frame and see if anything was written on the back. With shaky fingers, Sophie undid the clasps that held the back of the picture in place, and slid it out. She pulled the photo, and with one last glance at it, flipped it over.

_Jack - 15  
><em>_Sophie - 11  
>Gemma - 6<br>_

_So I got my sisters age right,_ Sophie thought. _But I was eleven, so that means it was two years ago. So she'll be eight now. And Jack'll be seventeen. _She sighed, and put the photo away.

Looking up, she saw that there was another plate of bread and bowl of water.

_Aslan said I'd be freed soon, she thought_, reaching for one of the hunks of bread_. And I'm starving. _

Edmund was again wondering what was happening to Sophie, left in that awful castle alone. He was walking now, hands tied behind his back. He kept on slipping in the slush, mud and wet grass, and every time be slipped the dwarf gave him a curse abs sometimes a flick with the whip. The Witch walked behind the dwarf and kept on saying, "Faster! Faster!"

Every moment the patches of green grew bigger and the patches of snow grew smaller. Every moment more and more of the trees hook off their robes of snow. Soon, wherever Edmund looked, instead of white shapes he saw the dark green of firs or the black prickly branches of bare oaks, and beeches and elms. Then the mist turned from white to gold and cleared away all together.

Soon there were more wonderful things happening. Coming suddenly round a corner into a glade of silver birch trees, Edmund saw the ground all covered with little yellow flowers in all directions. The noise of water grew louder, and presently they crossed a stream. Beyond it they found snow drops growing.

"Mind your own business!" Said the dwarf when he saw had Edmund had turned his head to look at them; and he gave the rope a vicious jerk.

But of course this didn't prevent Edmund from seeing. Only five minutes he noticed a dozen crocuses growing round the foot of an old oak tree - gold, purple and white.

Then came an even more delicious sound than the water. Close beside the path they were following, a bird suddenly chirped from the branch of a tree. It was answered by the chuckle of another bird a little further off. Then, as if that had been a signal, there was chattering and chirruping in every direction, and then a moment of full song, and within five minutes the while wood was ringing with birds' music.

Sophie lifted her head and gazed out of the window. The birds' song sounded wonderful to her, as she could remember the last time she had heard it. The sky was becoming bluer and bluer before Sophie's eyes, and now she saw white clouds from time to time. She could feel that there was a light breeze blowing through the open gap. Suddenly a bee buzzed inside.

"Hello, bee!" Sophie laughed. Even though it was just a bee, she was still glad of the company. Suddenly there were footsteps down the hall. Sophie tensed, pushing her photograph behind her. But when she saw the dwarf with food and drink, she sighed with relief.

"Thank you." She said as he set it down.

"You're welcome." He said. "Your name is Sophie, right?"

"Uh, yes." She said, hesitantly, unsure of why one of the Witch's 'henchmen' would be nice to her. The dwarf nodded. "Grumbleshin." He pointed to himself. He opened his mouth to say something else, then decided against it and closed his mouth.

"See you later then, Sophie."

"Goodbye, Grumbleshin." Sophie said. She thought nothing of the name; she was in a different world after all.

_What will happen to me once I get out of here? And what is that... Witch doing to Edmund!_ Sophie thought angrily, standing up and trying to jump up to see out of the window. She could just see the tips of the trees, as the window was high up and she couldn't jump high. But when she landed, she realised there was no snow on them.

_What had happened to the snow? _Sophie had no idea of the Witch's spell, and that Aslan's arriving had broken it. _At least Edmund would not be cold_, she thought gladly. The light was filtering in from a different angle, and Sophie guessed that it was later. She looked at her watch. Seven thirty. I've been in here twenty-five hours then.

Sophie sighed. When was she supposed to be freed then? _I'll go to sleep again if I can. _She sat down and picked up her picture_._

_Goodnight mum and dad, Ben and Gemma, _she thought, before putting the picture down again, lying down and closing her eyes_. _How she hoped sleep would come easy!

**A/N: Well, that was a fairly… independent chapter. Only the Edmund parts were stolen. Next chapter has even less, and then I think none! But I've not written that far yet, I'm just hazarding a guess. Anyway, to all my readers, thank you for reading, and please review! Two reviews for a new chapter!**

**Or not, because there's family, and new year, and then school, so my updates will slow up, but I'll keep going because I've got the bug on this story! Don't give up on this, please!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: So! Chapter 4! Or five, actually… I think I'm going to stop going by reviews, and update every week. Probably the weekend, because now I'm back in school I won't have much time to write. I'm two chapters ahead I think, and I'm now off the book completely by chapter 8! Then we have lots of EdmundXSophie moments, and lots of drama! And I mean _lots_. Lots of angst too. There's tears here there and everywhere… but I'm saying too much.**

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Do you have anything to say other than 'update ASAP'? Because I'm more likely to update if I really know what you think of my story. Like, if you like where it's at, where it's going, like Sophie, like my writing… things like that. But update ASAP is fine, I'll still update! I just like nice reviews :L**

**Princess Of Narnia: Update! :) Hope you like this one! And same sort of applies to you as above, but you say please a lot so it kinda makes it better :L**

**Does anyone else find it weird that the two people who review are both 'Princesses'? Or is it just me?**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. **

_**Chapter 4 - What Hurts The Most**_

The next morning, the rest of the Pevensie children heard - from Mrs Beaver - that their brother had been rescued and brought into camp late last night; and was at that moment with was Aslan.

As soon as they had breakfasted they all went out, and there they saw Aslan and Edmund walking together in the dewy grass, apart from the rest of the court.

There is no need to say (and no one ever heard) was Aslan said, but it was a conversation that Edmund never forgot. As the others drew nearer Aslan turned to meet them, bringing Edmund with him.

"Here is your brother." He said. "And there is need to talk to him about what is past."

Edmund shook hand with each of the others and said to each of them in turn, "I'm sorry." And everyone said, "That's all right."

And then everyone wanted very hard to say something which would make it quite clear that they were all friend with him again, but of course no one could think of anything.

"Aslan." Edmund said, suddenly.

"Yes?"

"You know of Sophie? She is stuck in a cell in the Witch's castle, and I am afraid that it is my fault." Edmund said, to the great surprise of his family. Who was Sophie?

"You wish to go and rescue her, before the White Witch can get back to do to her what she did not get chance to do to you." Aslan said it as more of a statement than a question, and judging by Edmund's face, he was right.

"Yes." Edmund said, simply.

Aslan nodded his head before answering. "All in its own time, Son of Adam, all in its own time."

"Sire, there is a messenger from the enemy who craves audience." Said a leopard suddenly. He had approached Aslan while Edmund was speaking.

"Let him approach." Said Aslan.

The leopard went away and soon returned leading the Witch's dwarf.

"What is your message, Son of Earth?" Asked Aslan.

"The Queen of Narnia and Empress of the Lone Islands desires a safe conduct to come and speak with you." Said the dwarf. "On a matter, which is as much to your advantage as to hers."

"Queen of Narnia, indeed!" Said Mr Beaver. "Of all the cheek-"

"Peace, Beaver." Said Aslan. "All names will soon be restored to their proper owners. In the meantime we will not dispute about them. Tell your mistress, Son of Earth, that I grant her safe conduct on condition that she leaves her wand behind her at that great oak."

This was agreed to and two leopards went back with the dwarf to see that the conditions were properly carried out.

* * *

><p>While the Witch and Aslan were talking, Sophie was rolling onto her back and opening her eyes. She yawned widely, stretching her legs and arms out.<p>

"Urgh, I'm so stiff." She complained, hearing several of her joints click.

"Morning, Sophie." Said a dwarf, placing her breakfast plate on the ground, and providing a fresh bowl of water.

"Morning Grumbleshin." Sophie smiled, running a hand through her bed hair and heaving herself to her feet.

"How are you this morning?" He asked, standing just outside the cell door.

"Stiff and thirsty. You?" She reached for the bowl of water and took a long drink.

"Better than usual. The Queen is not here and spring has come." He said, grinning.

"Why do you call her that when you know she is not the rightful Queen?" Sophie asked, sitting down again.

"Hush now!" Grumbleshin said, loudly. "There are many of my kind who believe that she is the rightful Queen. Me? I believe in Aslan, but don't you be saying that to anybody else!" He whispered, nodding.

"I have spoken to Aslan, twice. Once in a dream." Sophie said. "He gave me this." And she reached for her photo, before showing it to Grumbleshin.

"Ah." He nodded. "You are of Narnian blood then."

"I'm what?" Sophie said, putting her picture down.

"Of Narnian blood!" The dwarf said, as if it was that simple. "I mean you have the blood of Narnia in your veins, that you are a true Narnian. That sort of thing."

"Oh." Is suddenly occurred to Sophie to asked about the snow.

"Hey, Grumbleshin. What was with all that snow? And how come it's disappeared so quickly?"

Grumbleshin cackled. "Of course! You've never heard of the Queen's spell. She had made it forever winter, but never Christmas. But Aslan's arrival has broken her spell and it is spring!" He froze. "I must go. Goodbye Sophie!" And then he was gone.

_Interesting_, she thought. _So my meeting Father Christmas was Aslan's doing then? That's pretty cool!_

_Oh for crying out loud, when will I get out!_ She threw herself backwards in exasperation, landing on her back like a starfish. She sighed, "I want to go for a walk, I'm so stiff!"

Sophie stayed like she was for the moment, before getting to get feet. She then proceeded to do some strange looking stretches, trying to straighten herself out. She then walked around her cell a few times, just to get moving again. She reached for the hunk of bread as she passed.

But in the end she flopped down onto the floor - not too heavily, of course - and leaned against a wall. She began munching at the bread_. I don't care now; I'm too hungry._

* * *

><p>As soon as the Witch had gone, Aslan said, "We must move from this place at once, it will be wanted for other purposes. We shall encamp tonight at the Fords of Beruna."<br>Everyone was dying to ask him how he had arranged matters with the Witch; but his face was stern and everybody's ears were still ringing with the sound of his roar, so nobody dared.

Edmund was the only one who was brave enough to walk up to the great Lion.

"Aslan. Now may I be allowed to go and save Sophie?" he asked, bowing his head before the Lion.

"You seem to care a lot about young Sophie, do you not? Do you not think I am capable of saving her myself?" Aslan said, turning his head towards Edmund.

"I don't, I just feel that it is my fault and that I should be the one to save her, because I am most likely the one she blames."

"Ah." Aslan nodded his great head, and called to one of the centaurs.

"Will you and three others please accompany this young man to the Witch's castle to rescue a girl imprisoned there." He did not ask it a question.

The centaur nodded. "I would be delighted, sir." And he went off. Presently, he returned with three others from the rescue party sent to save Edmund. There was an eagle, a unicorn and another centaur.

"Well chosen." Aslan said. "Now, Son of Adam. You must go into the Witch's house alone. You will find help there." He turned to the centaurs. "Would it be all right if this Son of Adam and the rescued Daughter of Eve rode on your backs?"

The centaurs nodded, and then one helped Edmund onto its back.

"Thank you, Aslan." Edmund said graciously. Aslan nodded.

"Off you go."

The little rescue party raced across the ground, with the eagle searching on ahead. Edmund was worrying about how they would find Sophie. Would she be okay, or would she be hurt, starved, dehydrated or worse?

* * *

><p>Sophie was fine. She was lying stretched out on the ground with her eyes shut, thinking. Mostly about the family she left behind, and if she could remember them, but occasionally Edmund crept into her thoughts. Would she ever see him again? She sighed heavily, when Grumbleshin appeared at her cell door and coughed.<p>

Sophie cracked one eye open. "What's up, Grumbleshin?" She asked.

"There are five people racing across the valley. I think they've come to rescue you."

"Who are they!" Sophie cried, jumping to her feet. The dwarf scrunched up his eyes.

"I can't remember, but they should be here soon." He said, laughing.

Sophie's eyes narrowed at the dwarf. _Please don't betray me, s_he thought.

* * *

><p>Edmund could see the Witch's castle now, and the Centaurs pushed on faster, feeling Edmund's urgency. They arrived in minutes. Edmund vaulted off the Centaurs back, thanked him, and charged into the castle.<p>

He shot through the courtyard hardly noticing the statues. He flew up the stairs and into the gloomy hall, where he stopped. There was a little dwarf standing in front of the throne.

"Edmund!" Came a long off cry down the hall. He knew it was Sophie. His legs ached to take a step towards her, but the dwarf kept him riveted in place.

"Have you come to rescue Sophie?" It asked.

"Yes." Edmund said. The dwarf looked him up and down, and then tossed him something. Edmund caught it then slowly opened his hands. It was a key. He looked up at the dwarf, and the dwarf grinned.

"Go." He said. And Edmund didn't need more encouragement than that. He ran in the direction of Sophie's voice, and skidded to a halt outside her gate.

"Edmund, you came back for me!" She said, stepping away from the door, keeping her picture frame tight in her left hand. Edmund fumbled with the lock, but then suddenly there was a click and the gate slid out of the way.

_I'm sorry Aslan_, Sophie thought, as she raised her right hand. She brought it down around Edmund's cheek with a resounding slap. Her hand stung a little, but not as much as Edmund's face.

"What was that for!" He exclaimed, putting a hand to his red cheek.

"Not coming to get me sooner." She laughed, trying to hug him.

"No, I came to get you as soon as I could!" Edmund said, stepping away from her. Sophie stared at him.

"But I've been in her about two days!"

"I've been walking all that time! Do you know how hard that is!" Edmund took a step closer to Sophie, and she responded by taking one towards him.

"I've been stuck in here, bored and alone!" She leant forwards, as did he.

"The Witch would've killed me if Aslan hadn't sent a rescue party, and she was probably coming to kill you too!" Edmund yelled. They were almost nose to nose, both breathing hard, eyes glinting.

Sophie broke the tension first by laughing. "Oh it's good to see you again, Edmund! And I'm sorry for slapping you, I didn't know."

Edmund tried to frown, but couldn't help smiling "It's okay, you weren't to have known anyway. And it's good to see you too, believe it or not." He said, grinning.  
>Sophie smiled wider and wrapped her arms around the surprised boy. Cautiously, he put his arms around her. When nothing happened, he hugged her tighter. He felt something slap into his back.<p>

"What's that?" He asked, letting go of Sophie.

"What's what?" She looked at him confused. He grabbed her left wrist and pulled it up.

"That."

"Oh. It's... It's my family." Sophie said quietly. Edmund frowned.

"I thought you didn't know if you had family or not."

"I don't. Aslan gave this to me. He appeared in a dream along with Father Christmas." She said, remembering. "It was weird."

"Do you remember them now?" Edmund asked, looking down at the picture.

"No." The disappointment was evident in her voice, and she sighed.

"You look like your mum!" Edmund chuckled, pointing out their likeness. "And your sister looks like mine."

"Lu?"

"How'd you know?" Edmund's head snapped up and he looked her in the eyes.

"I heard your older brother call her that." Sophie shrugged.

"Shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Edmund said, changing the subject and looking around.

"Oh yeah." Said Sophie, grabbing Edmund's hand. "Let's go." And they ran.

As they reached the gloomy hall, or the throne room, Sophie paused.

"What are you waiting for, we've wasted too much time already!" He cried, spinning around to face her.

She held up her hand. "Goodbye, Grumbleshin!" She called, not seeing the little dwarf anywhere. "And thank you!" Then she turned and nodded to Edmund.

They sprinted through the courtyard, hands tightly clasped. The Centaurs met them gladly, and helped them onto their backs.

"We must go back to the Fords of Beruna." Edmund said to the centaur he was sat on, who's name happened to be Burcan. He nodded, and then they were off again.

**A/N: Another kind of long chapter. I hope you like this, and don't mind my book stealing-ness. Chapter's 6 and 7 have their fair bit of book content, but chapter 8 is completely my own stuff, so please hang on for that! So, see you next Friday!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Chapter 5! With NO stolen content… I think. Then we get back to a lot of stolen content. Nearly a whole chapter full in 7, just like in 2! I disgust myself. But then we're free, free of the book, free to write what I want! As long as I keep to my 11 page plan and keep the characters _in_ character!**

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Ah, thank you! I'm glad you like it! And I will update next Friday, and the Friday after, and the Friday after that, and… I'll shut up now and get on with the fic.**

**Princess Of Narnia 1192: Yeah, I'm being really slow because of my now dead iPod, and a million and one exams that are coming up. Maths, Science, English, History… eek. I'm trying to write as much as I can, so you'll get to read on :)**

**Thanks for reviewing, both of you! I need to say about my iPod. I write all my chapters there, and then email to myself, edit and upload. Now, my iPod screen has been cracked for a while, so we decided to try and replace it. Doing this, some connector broke and now it doesn't work. So everything that was written there has just gone. I am trying to remember half of what was written, so that is another reason that I'm slow updating ALL my fics. I am sorry!**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

_**Chapter 5 - What Hurts The Most**_

When they arrived at the Fords of Beruna, camp was firmly set up, and everyone seemed either tense or uncomfortable. Edmund was confused as to why, and Sophie just didn't know what was going on, and held on very hard to Edmund's hand.

"Brother." Came a voice, and the owner of this voice soon followed. it was the blond haired boy that Sophie had seen earlier. So they were related!

"Oh." He said, seeing Sophie. "You must be Sophie." He said, holding his hand out.  
>Sophie shook it, smiling up at him, for he was taller than her.<p>

"I'm Peter." He said.

"Well then, hello Peter!" She laughed, dropping his hand and gripping her photo. Peter laughed with her and Edmund scowled.

"How did you come to be in Narnia then, Sophie?" Peter asked, gazing at her with his blue eyes. Sophie blinked, flustered. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Sophie, we should let Aslan know that you are safe and that we ate back." Edmund interrupted, stiffly.

Sophie turned to him, and found her voice again.

"Okay then, grumpy. Let's go." And she took a hold of his hand once more.

"Could we stop to meet your sisters? According to my photo, I had a sister who would be eight years old." Sophie said, looking at Edmund hopefully. He sighed.

"If you want."

Sophie squeezed his hand in thanks.

"Susan! Lucy!" Edmund called, wandering over to a nearby pavilion. He checked inside, leaving Sophie to wait outside, wringing her hands.

"Nope." Edmund shrugged, pulling his head back.

"Edmu-und!" Somebody shrieked, and a little brown haired tornado crashed into Edmund's legs. Sophie had to cover her mouth to stop herself bursting out laughing. She looked away to where the girl had come from, and saw a tall girl with a disapproving frown on her face walking towards them.

"Lucy..." Edmund said warningly, trying to prize his sister off of him.

"But you're back, you're back!" She cried, hugging him tighter.

"Can't... Breath... Lucy!" Edmund gasped. Who know a little girl could be so strong? Suddenly, she stepped back and looked at Sophie.

"You must be Sophie! I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet you at last!" Lucy said, bouncing up and down slightly. Sophie gasped as Lucy's eyes met her own. She looked just like...

"I-I'm sorry, but how old are you?" Sophie asked, unable to make her voice louder that a whisper.

Susan had arrived by then, and was looking Sophie's crumpled and dirty attire up and down.

"I'm eight." Lucy said, perplexed.

Sophie gasped again, and suddenly grabbed the girl into a hug, tears welling up in her eyes.

Susan frowned, and Edmund stared.

"You're... Remembering?" He asked, looking at the picture that Sophie held in her hand. The young girl did look very like his sister Lucy.

"I'm sorry!" Sophie suddenly said, letting go of Lucy and taking a step back. She clutched the photo to her chest. Edmund took one of her hands and squeezed it gently.

"It's okay." Lucy smiled. "I like hugs."

But Sophie wasn't listening.

"Hey, it's okay." Edmund said, trying to be soothing, but not really working. Sophie was very suddenly shaking all over, and her photo frame went clattering to the ground.

Lucy picked it up. Luckily, the glass wasn't broken.

"Susan, look at that." Lucy said softly, pointing at the youngest girl in the photo. "She looks just like me."

Edmund was worried again. Sophie was shaking uncontrollably and had dropped her precious photo. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly, Sophie's knees buckled, and she fell down into the grass. She was shaking and rocking back and forth, eyes wide but still crying. He squeezed her hand, with no response. He crouched down beside her, and wrapped his arms over her shoulder and pulled her towards him, hugging her, holding her tightly and trying to be reassuring. His words didn't help Sophie, but his actions did.

She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. She was remembering. Not her parents, but her sister and her brother. Gemma was always happy, always singing in her childish voice, and dancing, smiling sweetly. She had sparkling blue eyes that always shone with happiness and mischief. Sophie remembered that when Gemma was two Sophie used to hold her hands and jump her up and down. She was like a little monkey.

Ben loved his guitar, but loved both his sisters just as much. He'd learnt Sophie's favourite song from when she was about eight, and used to play it for her. He always had untidy hair, rarely brushed it. He loved black, and wanted to dye his hair that colour. But he wasn't allowed to until he was 16. Sophie remembered one time, when they were in the garden, and Gemma was singing and dancing, and Ben was playing his beloved guitar.

_"Stop it Gemma!" Ten-year-old Sophie cried, turning her back on her sister._

_"Sophie!" Five-year-old Gemma sang, twirling round and round. She was showing off her new dance moves she'd learnt that week at dance class. Sophie was jealous; she wasn't good at __anything, unlike Gemma._

_"Hey, Soph!" Fourteen-year-old Ben called, walking onto the patio with his guitar. Sophie stopped and looked up. "BE-N!" She screamed, running as fast as she could towards him._

_"Hey, watch it little one. Mind my guitar!" He said, moving his black guitar out of her way. "Why are you being grumpy?" He asked, ruffling her hair slightly._

_"Gemma's showing off again." Sophie said, pouting._

_Ben laughed. "She's always showing off! I know, here," He sat down on the edge of the patio and put his guitar on his lap. "Listen." He said, grinning. He took a pick out of his pocket and began to play._

_Sophie squealed with joy when she heard it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried, jumping up and down._

_"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road," Sophie sang. "Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go."_

_Gemma had danced her way over, and joined in singing._

_"So make the best of this test and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time!"_

_"Gemma stop it, this is my song!" Sophie cried, scowling at her sister._

_"I can sing if I want too!" She said, sticking out her little pink tongue._

_"No!" Sophie screamed, and made to push her sister, but Ben grabbed her._

_"No, Sophie. You're ten, you should know better." He scolded gently._

_"But it's my song! You played it for me!" Sophie said, wriggling in his grip._

_"That I did." He said. Then he turned to Gemma. "How about you show us your new dance moves, while Sophie sings? This is her favourite song, and I did start playing it for her." Ben __said, solving the problem like always._

_"Okay." Gemma said, simply._

_Ben smiled and sat down again. Gemma began to twirl and dance, while Sophie settled into the song._

_"So make the best of this test and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time." She smiled, "It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life!"_

Sophie wanted more than anything to hear her brother play her favourite song again, watch her bratty sister dance while she sang. But she would never see them again and she knew that. She did not know why, but she felt it in her heart that she was not to go back. And so, she hung onto Edmund, the only person she had left who cared.

Once her crying had subsided, Edmund held her shoulders and held her up.

"You okay now?" He asked.

Sophie nodded. "You know what happened."

"You remembered."

"My brother and my sister. Bratty little Gemma!" Sophie said, looking like she was about to start crying again. But she sniffed, and stopped herself. "And my big brother, Ben. Him and his stupid guitar." She laughed through the remains of her tears, and wiped then away with her hand. "He used to play it for me." She said, smiling.

"It sounds like he was a great brother!" Lucy said, grinning.

"He was." Sophie said. "As was my sister, for all her showing off."

"You can be my sister too, if you want." Lucy offered, smiling.

Sophie smiled, feeling tears springing to her eyes from the innocence of the offer.

"Come now, child. You must be strong." Said Aslan, suddenly appearing beside them before Sophie had chance to answer. All four children turned to face him, all looking slightly in awe.

"Oh Aslan, I've just remembered!" Sophie said, smiling widely.

"But alas, I am afraid the only memories that will come are the ones of your brother and sister. Your parents are not to be remembered." Aslan bowed his great head, looking sad for Sophie's loss. Everyone looked at Sophie, feeling bad for her, and Sophie wanted to cry again.

But she took a deep breath. "And this is where you say, 'it is time for me to move on'."

Aslan chuckled. "No, I say it is time for _you_ to move on."

"That's what I- Oh well." Sophie laughed, as did Lucy, Susan and Edmund. Edmund gave Sophie's hand an extra squeeze of encouragement, trying to say that she would not be alone.

But he did not know that his kindness would backfire.

"Come now, we must go to supper." And then Aslan turned away, and began walking towards the pavilion. The four children looked at each other, then quickly followed after him.

Upon entering the tent, both Sophie and Edmund let go of the others' hand, as if not wanting to been seen together. Sophie still followed Edmund, and sat with him, but only because he was the only person she knew.

They sat down, Sophie sitting between Peter and Edmund. She felt a little bit awkward, for she hardly knew Peter.

"What did you remember?" Edmund asked, after they had all got their food.

"Just stuff about my brother and sister." Sophie answered, nonchalantly.

"You have a brother and sister?" Peter asked, turning to face Sophie.

"Yeah. Ben and Gemma." She said.

"How old are they?" Peter asked, smiling.

"Uh well... Ben should be seventeen now, and Gemma would be eight."

"Same age as Lucy!" Peter laughed. Sophie smiled; she already knew that.

"And Ben would be a year older than me." Peter was saying. Sophie looked at him.

"My brother was the best." She said, before turning back to her food.  
>Edmund grinned to himself.<p>

"He could play the guitar." Sophie said to herself.

"I've always wanted play the guitar." Edmund said to her, softly, making her jump.

"Oh! Um, really?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah." Edmund nodded. "What songs did your brother play?"

"I didn't remember that, but I remember that he used to play my favourite song for me, the song from when I was eight! The song came out around the year I was born, but I first heard it when I was eight." She smiled. "He'd been playing since he was ten. I bet he's amazing now." She sighed, wistfully.

"Don't – do you not want to be here then?" Edmund asked, letting the piece of bread he held in his hand drop back to his plate.

"Yes, of course I do! I love it here, I love... Everything about it! I just wish I could remember more." She said, looking up into Edmund's eyes.

Peter coughed. "Do you remember your parents?"

Sophie turned to him, surprised that he'd started talking again.

"Oh, no." She said, ducking her head and taking a mouthful of her food. Peter nodded, thinking.

Sophie looked at Edmund. "I feel like I should tell you more about my brother and sister." She whispered. "If you'd like to hear it." She added hurriedly.

Edmund swallowed his mouthful, eyes widening.

"Of course." He said, smiling at her.

"Let's sneak out at night. I feel like I haven't broken a rule in so long." She chuckled.

Everyone surrounding Aslan could feel his mood, and supper was a quiet meal. Everyone felt how it had been different last night, or even that morning. It was as if their good times, having just begun, were already drawing to an end.

**A/N: So, Edmund and Sophie are growing closer… I hate writing stories where the characters meet and BLAM they're in love so quickly that the story is short and crap, so although it _looks_ like it might come now, chances are it won't. That happens a lot. Just as you think 'oh!' it then becomes an 'oh.' Well, not to worry, a non stolen content chapter, with some rule breaking and Edmund family meeting. And a nice old fashioned breakdown in front of the snotty one. Who isn't snotty for long. Don't forget to review!**

**See you on Friday!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: So! Hello there! I had college interviews on Monday and Tuesday… Strode and Bridgewater. Which means as soon as I go there, I'll start having my time whittled down to about one word a day. My GCSE's are around now, but I can do them and still write. So I will try to write as much and as fast as I can, so I can update without having to wait for time to write.**

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Okay.**

**GlamourGirl190: Oh, thank you! And I suppose it is, because I'm rushing it a little. I'm keeping pace with the book too, so the book is probably a little fast. And it should slow down in a couple of chapters. I hope you'll still be reading then! And here is that next chapter, thank you for the review!**

**Princess Of Narnia 1192: Thank you! And I find it cute, and I'm writing it! I'm so weird. And thanks, but it's okay now :) Laptop is doing okay, and I'm a fair few chapters ahead. And of course, here you go! Thanks for the review!**

**And, btw the next chapter after this is pretty much all book content, but then I should be free of the book. There might be a little bit because they have to have the coronation – and I'm saying too much again. Sorry! Anyway, this has part stolen, part me. I hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

_**Chapter 6 - What Hurts The Most**_

Sophie listened as Susan and Lucy silently climbed out of their beds, and walked towards the door of the tent, whispering furiously.

She lay still a few minutes longer, before standing up too. She wasn't going to follow them, she was going to meet up with Edmund.

She lightly kicked the sleeping figure next to her.

"Get up." She whispered, crouching down next to his face. Edmund groaned and rolled over.

"What?" He muttered. "Oh yeah." He opened his eyes, and heaved himself out of his bed. He nodded at Sophie.

As she stepped out of the tent, she was abruptly aware of how cold it was outside. But it was too late to go back in and get a jumper.

Everything looked strangely different in the moonlight. The trees shone, the grass reflecting. If there had been snow it would've been reflecting from that, making it as bright as daytime.

Sophie turned around to see Edmund standing behind her, rubbing his eyes and yawning. She reached back and took one of his hands. They walked in silence to where there was a big log lying on the ground. Of course, they sat on it.

"So what did you want to know?" Sophie asked, leaning back a little.

"What did you want to tell me?" Edmund replied.

"Well, Ben was the best." She said, sitting up again. "He played the guitar since he was ten. He loved that, but he loved his sisters just as much. It's weird remembering this, you know?" She turned her head towards him, grinning. He smiled softly back at her. There was just something about Sophie that meant he couldn't not smile back.

"I don't remember any of this until I say it. Well, I remember some. Like Gemma went to dance class every week. She used to show off her dance moves in my face, because I was never good at anything, unlike her and Ben." Her lower lip pushed out while she considered this, and Edmund continued to gaze at her.

"I bet you were good at something." He said, nodding his head. Sophie shrugged.

"You'd think so." But then she remembered. "I used to sing. Not properly, or anything, but just like the average person does, to songs they like. But I suppose you could say I was good at it. Ben used to play me my favourite song, and I'd sing. Gemma would always try and join in too." Suddenly her tone got sour, and Edmund vacantly wondered what her qualm with her sister was.

"Sing." He found himself saying. "Sing for me. If you want to, of course."

Sophie gazed into his brown eyes, and saw that he was genuine in his offer, not secretly planning to make fun of her.

"Anything?" She asked, cautiously. "What year did you grow up in?"

"1940s."

"Ah." And Sophie leaned back on the log, looking up to the sky.

"Why, what about you?" Edmund asked, worried by her response. Or lack thereof.

"2000s. I lived in 2011, I think. I must've been born in 1998." She said.

"I'm the same age as you here, but back on earth, you'd be about sixty years older than me!" Edmund said, shocked. But it didn't matter; they were on the same time stream now.

"Yes I suppose." She said with a low chuckle. "But I'm never going back, so we'll never find out, eh?" Here she turned to look at him again, to find his mouth hanging open.

"How do you know?"

"If I was going back, wouldn't I remember the life I was living, the life I would be going back to? And I just get that feeling that here is my home now. That this is the country that I live in. This is my country."

Edmund blinked a few times. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"No, but I'm about, oh, 95% sure." She nodded. "Anyway, weren't we talking about my singing?"

Edmund shook his head to try and wrap his head around two things. Sophie was sixty years younger than him, but she was sitting in front of him at the same age as him.

Secondly, she was to stay in Narnia forever. Or so she believed.

"Yeah... We were. So, are you going to?" He asked, clearing his head of all thoughts, pushing them away, locking them in a draw. Whatever made him happy.

"Well, you won't know any of the songs I do. But I won't sing my favourite song. I'll keep that for another day." She grinned cheekily, then closed her eyes.

"I'll sing a song by my favourite band. I think it's appropriate. The guy who wrote it, his father had died, and I've just lost my family. It kinda fits, don't you think?" She asked.  
>Edmund pulled a face at her, but nodded.<p>

"Well, here goes nothing." And she took a deep breath.

"Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last, wake me up when September ends." She paused, hearing the music in her head.

"Like my father's come to pass, seven years has gone so fast, wake me up when September ends.  
>Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars. Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are."<p>

Edmund stared at her as she continued to sing, her face showing the emotion of the song. Her eyes were closed and her face pointed skywards, as if she was trying to ignore the fact that he was there, he was listening, and staring at her face as he did so.

He realised that her song was coming to an end, and that he would have to stop staring at her, and find something to say.

"Wake me up when September ends..." Sophie finished gently, slowly opening her eyes again. She could see Edmund staring at her, but couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"So...How was that?" She asked, trying to sound cool and calm, but the nervousness slipping through slightly.

Edmund nodded. "Amazing." He whispered softly. "I would never have guessed you could sing like that."

"Oh thanks!" She laughed, and Edmund couldn't help smiling.

"Tell me more about your brother and sister. It helps you remember, right?"

"Right. My sister... Uhm... She's a brat? She's the baby, so she's spoilt. Ben is the eldest, so he's wonder boy, and I'm the middle. Plain old Sophie. That's how it always was, and how it'll always be I guess." She sighed. "They were both talented. Not musically, or whatever either. Gemma could talk to anyone without caring and could make friends so easily. Ben was just an all round cool guy; it was hard not to like him. He always had friends coming over and crashing all over the place. He wanted to dye his hair black, and I can't remember if he did or not. His favourite colour was black. He even had a favourite band with an album called The Black Parade. I quite liked them too, you know? But some of their songs were too heavy for me. I'm a pop punk fan. Not rock. Gemma loved pop songs too. Ones in the charts and such. Loved pink too. Pink and glitter sparkles. Fairies and small things like that. But that's too girly for me. I suppose I was between them; liking a few Gemma-y things, and a few Ben-y things. Then a few of my own." She sighed again, turning her head to look at Edmund.

"I'm sorry, I've been talking for so long!" She said, watching him yawn.

"No, it's okay. It was really interesting. But we probably should be getting back." Edmund said, regretfully.

Sophie nodded. "You go ahead. I'll catch you up."

Sleep deprived and not thinking straight, Edmund ducked his face to the side, and kissed her cheek. "Night Sophie." He muttered, before wandering back to the tent.

Sophie touched the spot on her cheek where he had kissed her, and wondered what it meant. She smiled to herself as she watched him disappear. _Mr Grumpy could say all he wanted but there was something there after all. Interesting._

Sophie stayed there and continued to think about her family, and Edmund.

Edmund had fallen into his bed without noticing that Susan and Lucy were still gone. But Sophie noticed.

She remembered that she hadn't seen or heard them come back, and that she had heard some great noise up near what was supposed to the stone table. Someone had pointed it out to her after supper that evening.

_Thinking about it, it does seem eerily quiet,_ Sophie thought, _and there was a hum of noise up that way_. Sophie stood up, and turned in that direction. She began to walk.

It was some while later that Sophie began to wish Edmund had come with her. Then she would have had a second opinion on the direction she was walking in. She stopped and sighed. Would she ever get there? Or was she lost, again! It was beginning to look a little brighter than it had been when she set off. Then, quite suddenly, she heard Susan's voice.

"Urgh! How beastly!"

Sophie began to run in the direction of her voice, and as she broke out of the trees and saw what, or should I say who, lay upon the stone table, she froze.

"Aslan!" She called. Susan and Lucy snapped their heads up, distracted from the mice.

"Sophie?" They said in unison. They looked at each other briefly, and looked back to see Sophie charging up the hill towards them. There were tears forming in her eyes. She flung herself down next to Lucy and placed a hand on the Lion.

"What happened?" She said, turning her wide eyes first on Lucy, then Susan. "And what are the mice doing?"

"I do believe - " Said Susan. "But how queer! They're nibbling away at the cords!"

"That's what I thought," Lucy replied "I think they're friendly mice. Poor little things - they don't realise he's dead. They think it'll do him some good untying him."

Sophie bent her head as her tears spilt over at the word 'dead'.

It was quite definitely lighter now. Each of the girls noticed for the first time the white faces of the others. They could see the mice nibbling away; dozens and dozens, even hundreds, or little field mice. And at last, one by one, the ropes were all gnawed through and the mice crept away again.

The girls cleared away the remains of the gnawed ropes, and then Susan turned to Sophie.

"What were you doing out here?" She asked.

Sophie lifted her head and looked at her. "Uh... I saw you leave, and after I had finished talking to Edmund, I decided to see what you were up too. I had a feeling that it was something awful."

"Wait, how were you talking to Edmund?" Lucy put in, interested.

"Oh... That. Um, we both snuck out of the tent and were talking about my brother and sister. Trying to help me remember." She said, stroking Aslan's fur.

In the wood behind them a bird gave a chuckling sound. It had been so still for so long that it made them jump. Then another bird answered it. Soon there were birds singing all over the place. It was quite definitely early morning now, not late night.

* * *

><p>Peter was standing over his brother, nudging him with his toe.<p>

"Get up lazy, the girls have gone."

"Who?" He mumbled, pulling his cover up to his head.

"Susan, Lucy and Sophie." Peter answered, rolling his eyes. He was surprised when Edmund threw his cover off and sat upright.

"Sophie, you say?" He demanded urgently. He jumped up to face his brother, who nodded, looking confused.

"Damn!" And Edmund ran from the tent. Peter stared after him in amazement.

Edmund paused outside to look around, then bolted over to the log where him and Sophie had sat the night before. When there was no trace of her, he stopped and ran a hand through his dark hair.

Peter caught him up and lay a hand on his shoulder. "What's up?" He asked, puzzled.

"Sophie's gone. I was out here talking to her last night, and she told me to go back and she'd come in later. I tried to wait up for her, but I guess I fell asleep." He sighed. "She's gone and it's my fault again."

And he turned and stormed back to find Aslan. But of course he couldn't find him.

* * *

><p>"What's that?" Said Lucy, clutching at Susan's arm. The three girls had gone for a walk around the eastern edge of the hill as they had been feeling very cold, and wanted to warm up.<p>

"I - I feel afraid to turn around." She said.

"Something awful is happening!" Sophie said, panicking.

"There doing something worse to Him!" said Lucy. "Come on!" And she and Sophie turned, pulling Susan around with them.

The rising sun had made everything look so different - all colours and shadows were changed - that for a moment they didn't see the important thing. But then they did. The Stone Table was broken into two great pieces by a crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Cried the three girls, rushing back to the Table.

"Oh, it's too bad!" Sobbed Lucy. "They might have left the body alone."

"If only we hadn't left him." Sophie moaned.

"Who's done it?" Cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it magic?"

"Yes!" Said a great voice behind them. "It is more magic."

They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

"Oh Aslan!" Cried the three children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened, as they were glad.

"Aren't you dead then, dear Aslan?" Said Lucy.

"Not now." Said Aslan.

"You're not - not a - ?" Asked Susan in shaky voice. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Ghost?" Sophie finished for her. Susan smiled gratefully at her, before looking back to Aslan, who stooped his golden head and licked her forehead. The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her.

"Do I look it?" He said.

"Oh, you're real, you're real! Oh, Aslan!" cried Lucy, and all three girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kissed.

"But what does this mean?" Sophie asked, when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge does back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked back a little further back, into the stillness and dark rads before Time dawned, she would have read three a different incantation. She have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards. And now-"

"Oh yes. Now?" Said Lucy, jumping up and clapping her hands. Susan and Sophie exchanged delighted looks, a friendship had formed in the 'death' of someone dear to them both.

"Oh, children," said the Lion, "I feel my strength coming back to me. Of, children, catch me if you can!" He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table.

Laughing, though she didn't know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hilltop he led them, hopelessly out of reach, then letting the almost catch his tail, diving between them, tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, then stopping unexpectedly so that all four of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur, arms and legs.

And the funny thing was that when all four finally lay together panting in the sun, the girls no longer left in the least tired, hungry or thirsty.

"And now," Aslan said presently, "to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears."

So they did. And Aslan stood up and when the opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it. Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, and both Susan and Lucy turned their heads away so they saw the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring.

"We have long journey to go. You must ride on me." And he crouched down, and the children climbed on to his warm, golden back. Susan sat first, holding on tightly to his mane, and Sophie sat behind, holding onto Susan, then Lucy sat right at the back, holding on tightly to Sophie.

With a great heave he rose underneath them and then shot off, faster than any horse could go, down hill and into the thick of the forest.

**A/N: So! This is quite a long one I think, probably one of the longest. But who cares? I would ask do you like where this is going, but at the moment it's going nowhere! Well, it'll be going somewhere in the next few chapters, so I hope you stick around for that!**

**See you Friday!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY GUYS! I've had loads of crazy mental things (mainly exams and revision) going on which has prevented me from writing more on this story, but I am ahead by a couple of chapters. Today is the only day I can update this week, so I thought I'd better do it by way of compensation. Jeez, I didn't realise it'd been so long. I'm really sorry, I hope you think it's worth it (especially for the end!)!**

**Helping me write this chapter (or should I say _not_ helping) was my boyfriend :) even though I refused to let you look while I wrote. **

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Okay. Sorry it took me so long!**

**Princess Of Narnia 1192: I love that song too, and her favourite song was based off an 'easy' song my boyfriend can play on his guitar. They've gotta be my two favourites! Here's the looooooong awaited update!**

**EdmundsGirl1985: Oh yeah! I think I've fixed that now. Thank you! Any more stupid mistakes? I'm terrible for them, and I really want this one to be as perfect as I can make it!**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

_**Chapter 7 - What Hurts The Most**_

After a very long and yet exhilarating ride upon Aslan's back, they at last reached a high castle wall.

"The Witch's home!" Aslan cried. "Now, children, hold tight."

The next moment the whole world turned upside down, and the children felt like they had left their insides behind them; for the Lion had gathered himself together for a greater leap that any he had yet made and jumped – or you may call it flying rather than jumping – right over the castle wall. The three girls, breathless but unhurt, found themselves tumbling off his back into the middle of a wide stone courtyard full of statues.

"What an extraordinary place!" Cried Lucy. "All those stone animals – and people too! It's – it's like a museum."

"I've been here before." Sophie said softly, turning to look at Lucy.

"Hush," Said Susan, "Aslan's doing something."

He was indeed. He had bounded up to the stone lion and breathed on him. Then without waiting a moment he whisked round – almost as if he had been a cat chasing its tail – and breathed also on the stone dwarf, which (as you remember) as standing a few feet from the lion with his back to it. Then he pounced on a tall stone dryad which stood beyond the dwarf, turning rapidly aside to deal was a stone rabbit on his right, and rushed on to two centaurs.

But at that moment Lucy said, "Oh, Susan! Sophie! Look! Look at the lion!"

For a second nothing seemed to happen, and then they noticed a tiny streak of gold beginning to run along his marble back. Then it spread. The colour seemed to lick all over him, then, while his hindquarters were still stone, the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stone folds rippled into living hair. Then he opened a great, red mouth, warm and living, and gave a prodigious yawn. And now his hind legs had come to life. Catching sight of Aslan, he went bounding after him and frisking round him whimpering with delight and jumping up to lick his face.

Of course the children's eyes turned to follow the lion; but the sight they saw was so wonderful they soon forgot about _him_. Everywhere the statues were coming to life. The courtyard looked no longer like a museum; it looked more like a zoo. Creatures were running after Aslan and dancing round him till he was almost hidden in the crowd.

Instead of the deadly white marble statues the courtyard was now a blaze of colours; glossy chestnut sides of the centaurs, indigo horns of unicorns, dazzling plumage of birds, reddy-brown of foxes; and the birch girls in silver, the beech girls in fresh, transparent green, and the larch girls in green so bright that it was almost yellow. And instead of the deadly silence the whole place rang with the sound of happy roarings, brayings, yelpings, barkings, squealings, cooings, neighings, stampings, shouts, hurrahs, songs and laughter.

"Oh!" Said Susan in a different tone. "Look! I wonder – I mean, is it safe?"

Lucy looked and saw that Aslan had just breathed on the feet of the stone giant.

"It's all right!" shouted Aslan joyously. "Once the feet are put right, all the rest of him will follow.

"I don't think that was what she meant." Whispered Sophie with a chuckle.

But it was too late to do anything about it now even if Aslan would have listened to her. The change was already creeping up the giant's legs. A moment later he lifted his club of his shoulder, rubbed his eyes and said, "Bless me! I must have been asleep. Now! Where's that dratted little Witch that was running about on the ground? Somewhere just by my feet it was."

Then everyone had to explain what had really happened, and the giant had put his hand to his ear and got them to repeat it all again so that at last he understood.

"No for the inside of the house!" Said Aslan. "Look alive, everyone. Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber! Leave no corner unsearched. You never know where some poor prisoner may be concealed."

And into the interior they all rushed, Sophie, Susan and Lucy with them. For several minutes the whole of the dark, horrible, fusty old castle echoed with the opening of windows and everyone's voices shouting out at once.

Sophie had paused in the throne room, leaving everyone to rush in without her. But she didn't notice, and didn't mind. Her eyes were fixed on a little dwarf standing next to the Witch's throne.

"Sophie?" It said.

"Grumbleshin?" She answered it.

"Sophie! I didn't think I was going to see you again!" The little dwarf cried, stepping forwards. And Sophie did something she would never have imagined herself doing, nor would she ever do again, as she picked Grumbleshin up off his feet and gave him such a fierce hug that he couldn't breath. When she at last put him down again, he staggered for a few seconds, before standing upright.

"Nice to see you too." He grumbled.

"Aslan's here." Sophie said, watching for his reaction. It was that his head shot up and looked her in the eye.

"Really? Don't you be messing with me, now."

"I'm serious! How else do you think I got here?"

And before Grumbleshin could answer, Lucy's cries filled the gloomy little hall.

"Aslan! Aslan! I've found Mr. Tumnus! Oh, do come quick!"

"See?" Sophie said, grinning mischeviously. "Aslan."

A moment later Lucy and the little fawn here holding each other by the hand and dancing round and round for joy. The little chap was none the worse for having been a statue and was of course very interested in all she had to tell him.

* * *

><p>Then at last the ransacking of the Witch's castle was over. The whole castle stood empty with every door and window open and the light and the sweet spring air flooding into all the dark and evil places that needed it so badly. The whole crowd of liberated statues surged back into the courtyard, and it was then that someone said,<p>

"But how are we going to get out?"

"That'll be all right." Said Aslan; and then, rising up on his hind legs, he bawled up at the giant. "Hi! You up there! What's your name?"

"Giant Rumblebuffin, if it please you honour." Said the giant, touching his cap.

"Well then, Giant Rumblebuffin," said Aslan, "Just let us out of this, will you?"

"Certainly, your honour. It will be a pleasure." He said. "Stand well away from the gates, all you little 'uns." Then he strode to the gate himself and bang – bang – bang- went his huge club. The gates creaked at the first blow, cracked at the second, and shivered at the third. Then he tackled the towers on each side of the and after a few minutes of crashing and thudding both towers and a good bit of the wall on each side went thundering down in a mass of hopeless rubble; and when the dust cleared it was odd, standing in that dry, grim, stony yard, to see through the gap all the grass, waving trees, sparkling forest streams, the blue hills beyond that, and beyond them the sky.

"Our day's work is not yet over." Called Aslan. "And if the Witch is to be defeated before bedtime we must find the battle at once."

"And join in, I hope, sir!" added the larges of the Centaurs.

"Of course," said Aslan. "And now! Those who can't keep up – that is, children, dwarfs and small animals – must ride on the back of those who can – that is lions, centaurs, unicorns, horses, giants and eagles. Those who are good with their noses must come to the front with us lions to smell out where the battle is. Look lively and sort yourselves."

And with a great deal of bustle and cheering they did. The most pleased of the lot was the other lion who kept running about everywhere pretending to be busy but really in order to say to everyone he met, "Did you hear what he said? _Us lions._ That means him and me. _Us lions._ That's what I like about Aslan. No side, no stand-off-ishness. _Us lions._ That meant him and me." At least he went on saying this till Aslan loaded him up with three dwarfs, one dryad, two rabbits and a hedgehog. That steadied him a bit.

When all were ready they set out through the gap in the castle wall. At first the lions and dogs went nosing about in all directions. But then suddenly one great hound picked up the sent and gave a bay. There was no time lost after that. Soon all the dogs, lions, wolves and other hunting animals were going at full speed with their noses to the ground, and all the others, streaked out for about half a mile behind them, were following as fast as they could.

Faster and faster they went as the sent became easier to follow. And then, just as they came to the last curve in a narrow, winding valley, Lucy heard above all the noises another noise – a different one, which gave her a queer feeling inside. It was a noise of shouts and shrieks and of the clashing of metal against metal.

Then they came out of the narrow valley and at once she saw the reason. There stood Peter and Edmund and all the rest of Aslan's army fighting desperately against the crowd of horrible creatures whom she had seen last night; only now, in the daylight, they looked even stranger and more evil and more deformed. There also seemed to be far more of them. Peter's army – which had their backs to her – looked terribly few. And there were statues dotted all over the battlefield, so apparently the Witch had been using her wand.

But she did not seem to be using it now. She was fighting with her stone knife.

It was Peter she was fighting – both of them going at it so hard that Lucy could hardly make out what was happening; she only saw the stone knife and Peter's sword flashing so quickly that they looked like three knives and three swords. That pair was in the centre. On each side the line stretched out. Horrible things were happening wherever she looked.

"Off my back, children!" shouted Aslan. And they all tumbled off. Then with a roar that shook all Narnia from the western lamppost to the shores of the eastern sea the great beast flung himself upon the White Witch. Lucy and Sophie saw her face lifted towards him with an expression of terror and amazement.

Then the Lion and the Witch had rolled over together but with the Witch underneath; and at the same moment all war-like creatures whom Aslan had led from the Witch's house rushed madly on the enemy lines, dwarfs with their battleaxes, dogs with their teeth, the giant with his club (and his feet also crushed dozen of foe), unicorns with their horns, centaurs with swords and hooves. And Peter's tired army cheered, and the newcomers roared, and the enemy squealed and gibbered till the wood re-echoed with the din of that onset.

The battle was all over a few minutes after their arrival. Most of the enemy had been killed in the first charge of Aslan and his companions; and when those who were still living saw that the Witch was dead they either gave themselves up or took to flight. The next thing that Lucy knew was Peter and Aslan were shaking hands. It was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now – his face was so pale and stern and he seemed so much older.

Sophie couldn't help what she did next, which was to break away from the other two girls and wrap her arms around Peter's waist.

"I barely know you, and I was worried for you when I heard that there was a battle!" She said into his chest. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

Peter felt the corners of his mouth pull up in a smile, and he put his arms around her as best he could. After all, she was a fair bit shorter than him.

"Well, I'm safe. And it was all Edmund's doing, Aslan." He added, turning to face the lion. "We'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him. The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left. But nothing would stop him. He fought his was through three ogres to where she was just turning one of your leopards into stone. And when he reached her he had the sence to bring his sword smashing down on her wand instead of trying to go for her directly and simply being made a statue himself for his pains. That was the mistake the rest were making. Once her wand was broken we began to have some chance – if we hadn't lost so many already. He was terribly wounded. We must go and see him."

"Edmund!" Sophie breathed. Then she realised that Grumbleshin wasn't anywhere to be seen. _Where'd he get to? _She thought, _he probably ran into the fight on Aslan's side, to make up for the time he spent serving the Witch._

They found Edmund in charge of Mrs Beaver a little way back from the fighting line. As soon as Sophie spotted him, she ran forwards, praying that he was okay. He was covered with blood; his mouth was open, and his face a nasty green colour.

"Edmund!" Sophie gasped, crossing her hands over her mouth.

"Quick, Lucy." Said Aslan.

And then, almost for the first time, Lucy remembered the precious cordial that had been given to her for a Christmas present. Her hands trembled so much that she could hardly undo the stopper, but she managed it in the end and poured a few drops into her brother's mouth.

"There are other people still wounded." Said Aslan while she was still looking eagerly into Edmund's pale face and wondering if the cordial would have any result.

"Yes I know," Said Lucy crossly. "Wait a minute."

"Lucy, I'll stay with him, you know I will. Go. You have the gift that will save them." Sophie said quietly, dragging her eyes away from Edmund and gesturing to the bottle of cordial.

"I know, but..." Lucy said, trailing off. She didn't have much of an argument left. "He could be dying."

"Daughter of Eve," said Aslan in a grave voice. "Others are also at the point of death. Must _more_ people die for Edmund?"

"I'm sorry, Aslan." Said Lucy, getting up and going with him.

Sophie held her breath, her eyes wide, taking Lucy's place beside Edmund. Quietly, she slipped her hand into his, and held it tight.

Slowly, the colour came back into his face. Then his eyes got brighter, a deeper brown. Sophie squeezed his hand harder in excitement, and his cheeks turned pink.

"Edmund!" Sophie cried, leaning forwards. Edmund's eyes focused again, and suddenly saw her face.

"You're okay!" He said, sitting up suddenly. "Oh, my head." He said, putting his free hand on his head.

"_I'm_ okay!" Sophie exclaimed. "Look at you! You were in a battle; you destroyed the Witch's wand and saved other people being turned into stone! You risked being turned into stone yourself!" And she let go of his hand to grab him into a tight hug. "And you're worried if I'm okay." She mumbled in his ear. "I nearly had a heart attack when Peter said you'd been wounded terribly." And she pressed her face into his shoulder. Pleased, though he didn't know why, Edmund smiled.

Something about his face began to change then. It began to get brighter, and nicer, back to the way he had been before his first term at that horrid school where everything had begun to go wrong. He had become his real old self again and he could look you in the face. And there on the field of battle Aslan made him a knight.

"Sir Edmund." Sophie laughed, patting his shoulder. "Should I bow to you?" She said, making a mock curtsey.

"Stop it." He laughed and swatted her.

"Oh, but Sir Edmund, I must bow to you for you are much better than me!" Sophie said in a silly voice, trying to wind him up.

"Shut up!" Edmund retorted, giving her a light shove. "It's not funny!"

Sophie laughed harder, and pushed him back. "Of course it's funny, its you!"

"Oh thanks!" Edmund repeated her earlier words, and pulled a face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it." Sophie said, trying to hide her grin. She couldn't help feeling happy again, Edmund was okay. In fact, he was better than okay.

He was perfect.

**A/N: A little bit of sweetness there at the end. Okay, I know now that chapter 8 has a little bit of book in it at the start, but from here on (till maybe the end) I'm BOOK FREE! Aha! The chapters are gonna stay this length, so if you have a complaint (too long, too short, too many big paragraphs, too many single lines…) tell me in the reviews so I can sort it out and make it perfect! Well, as perfect as I can make it!**

**Anywhoooooo, see you next Friday!**

**Livy ~ xx **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I don't know what to write. How about… Yay I'm BOOK FREE! Well, after the first page I am. I'm still sorry that I didn't update for about three weeks last time! But hopefully this should've been posted on the 25th or 26th, provided my pygmy goat doesn't decide to kid early!**

**Princess Emma Of Narnia: Okay.**

**Calyn: In case you haven't noticed, pretty much all of the fic has been like that until now. And I know I'm breaking copyright laws, but then really, isn't this whole website? It's not like I'm making any money from this, it's entirely for entertainment purposes and I make that perfectly clear in my disclaimer, thank you. And I have also said, many times before, that I am only using the book to make the whole story flow and fit together, because Sophie arrives at the same time as the Pevensies. I have my reasons, and if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. And when I said chapter 8, I don't count the prologue, so I really meant _this _chapter.**

**Raven Winter: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! I hope you keep reading though, it's (supposedly) going to get better!**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

Chapter 8 – What Hurts The Most

That night they slept where they were. How Aslan provided food for them all I don't know; but somehow or other they found themselves all sitting down on the grass to be a fine high tea at about eight o'clock. Next day they began marching eastward down the side of the great river. And the next day after that, at about teatime, they actually reached the mouth. The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them before them were the sands, with rocks and little pool of salt water, and seaweed and the small of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach. And oh, the cry of the sea gulls!

That evening after tea the five children all managed to get down to the beach and get their shoes and socks off and feel the sand between their toes.

The next day was more solemn. For then, in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel – that wonderful hall with the ivory roof and the west wall hung with peacock's feathers and the eastern door which looks towards the sea, in the presence of all their friends and to the sound of trumpets, Aslan solemnly crowned them and led them to the five thrones – with two on each side leading up to a higher, more majestic throne, for the High King – amid shouts of, "Long live High King Peter! Long live Queen Susan! Long live King Edmund! Long live Queen Sophie! Long live Queen Lucy!"

"Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen. Bear it well, Sons of Adam" Bear it will, Daughters of Eve!" Cried Aslan.

And through the eastern door, which was wide open, came the voices of the mermen and the mermaids swimming close to the shore and singing in honour of their new Kings and Queens.

So the children sat on their thrones and sceptres were put into the hands, and they gave rewards and honours to all their friends; to Tumnus the Faun, to the Beavers', to Grumbleshin the Dwarf, and Giant Rumblebuffin. To the leopards, the good centaurs, the good dwarfs and the lion. And that night there was a great feast in Cair Paravel, and revelry and dancing, and gold flashed and wine flowed, and answering to the music inside but stranger, sweeter, and more piercing, came the music of the sea people.

But amidst all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away. And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn't there they said nothing about it. For Mr. Beaver had warned them, "He'll be coming and going," he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He does like being ties down – and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a _tame_ lion."

* * *

><p>As Sophie fell onto her bed that night, she put her hands behind her head and began remembering the ball earlier. She hadn't wanted to go, but now she was glad she had. She didn't feel like a Queen, and it had been odd to hear so many people calling her that.<p>

"Queen Sophie." She mumbled. It didn't sound right. "Queen Sophie Stevenson."

She put a hand to her neck, and felt the necklace there. She smiled at the memory of how she'd got it. The whole thing had started as she'd been led to her room by a dryad.

"I hope you will find this room to your satisfaction, Queen." She had said, pushing the door open and gesturing to the room. Sophie stepped into the doorway, looking curiously at the dryad.

"I'm sure I will…" She said, before turning her head to look in the room.

"Oh my!" She cried, putting her hands to her face and gasping.

"What is it, Queen?" The dryad said in alarm.

"It's amazing!" Sophie cried, dancing up and down a little. "I can't believe it!"

Her room had a King-sized, four poster bed, with midnight blue sheets. The floors were bare wood, and had a big patterned rug over the floor at the end of her bed. There was a desk just next to the door, up against the wall. A big desk, with draws and a large vanity mirror propped up on it. There was a large wardrobe at the end of the room, which had full-length mirrors on the doors. And between the bed and the wardrobe, there was a set of open double doors, with satin curtains which were fluttering lightly in the breeze coming from outside.

"Oh!" Sophie rushed forwards, and on to the balcony, the dryad's chuckle disappearing behind her.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked the dryad, gesturing to the view. She could see over the beach, over the eastern hills, and could hear the mer-people singing.

"Yes, Queen, it is. I will get your dress for the coronation ball." She said, sweeping into the room and pulling out a dress from the wardrobe.

"I have put it on your bed. Please Queen, come and get ready."

But Sophie's eyes were wide and she was leaning away, bending over the rails. "Uh-huh." She said. "You are not getting me into _that_. Not for anybody. I do not wear dresses, I know that much. And as for getting ready – what do you mean? If you mean hair and make up, you're laughing. I look stupid with makeup on, and you can't do anything with my hair!"

"Queen," the dryad laughed, "You are babbling. Please, come and sit." She pulled out the chair of the desk. "I promise you, Queen, that I can style your hair. It is not as bad as mine, for I am a tree."

Sophie pursed her lips. "I don't care. I'm not going." And she folded her arms.

"Not even for me?" came a lilting voice in the doorway.

"Susan, tell her I'm not going!" Sophie demanded, pointing at the dryad.

"Ah." Said Susan, walking into the room. She had a dress folded over her arm. "I'm afraid I can't. This is our coronation ball, we _must_ go. Don't be silly Sophie."

"_NO!_" Sophie yelled. "I don't want to go!" She ran forwards, and threw herself on her bed.

"Not even for your sister?" Susan asked, grinning.

"Huh?" Sophie asked, rolling onto her back and sitting up and crossing her legs beneath her. Susan raised her eyebrows, and Sophie frowned.

"That was low."

"Did it work?" Susan asked, hopefully.

"Yes." Sophie sighed, and threw herself backwards. "Oh, it's so soft!"

"Get up and get dressed, quickly!" Susan ordered. "I'll get my dress on too. I brought it with me, I had a feeling you'd be being stubborn!" She laughed.

Sophie frowned again, and heaved herself off the bed. "Okay, I'll wear the stupid thing. But I'll look horrible." She decided.

"I assure you, Queen, you will not." The dryad said, gliding over and holding out the dress.

"Will you stop calling me 'Queen'? My name is _Sophie_." She said, quickly getting out of her clothes and holding out her arms.

"Yes, Queen."

"_SOPHIE!"_

The dryad simply smiled, and gently helped Sophie into the dress.

"All done." She said moments later, letting Sophie go.

"Hmph." She said. "But you're not doing my hair. I don't trust trees with my hair, they normally ruin it."

"Stop being stubborn." Susan said, appearing from around the bed. "Thank you," She said to the dryad. "You may go now."

She nodded, and gracefully swept out of the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as she had been gone a little while, Sophie burst into laughter.

"I know you're a Queen, but you don't have to order her about!"

"She won't mind. Come, I'll do your hair. Mine is already done." Sophie opened her mouth to protest but Susan cut her off. "And before you say anything, I won't do anything fancy with it, just simple."

Sophie narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, but nodded suspiciously. She slid into the chair avoiding looking in the mirrors.

"You are to dance with Edmund for the first dance." Susan instructed, picking up the brush and trying to de-tangle Sophie's hair.

"You won't be able to do anything with it. It's an untameable explosion. And don't say I didn't warn you!" Sophie laughed. "And why Edmund?"

"Because Peter is already taken." Susan answered a little too quickly. Sophie raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly.

"Well, I don't want to dance with Peter anyway."

"You might have too!" Susan laughed, and Sophie's eyebrows went higher.

"Why? You just said I had to dance with Edmund." Sophie asked, closing her eyes.

"Because he is the High King, he has to dance with everyone." She said.

"How do you know all this?" Sophie asked.

"Everyone must dance with their date for the first dance. And because I read a lot of princess books as a child."

"_DATE!" _Sophie roared, opening her eyes again, "Date! I'm not dating Edmund!"

"I know!" Susan laughed, "But you have been paired as his date so you must start and finished the night with him."

"I won't kiss him." Sophie said. "He's stubborn, irritating, self centred and annoying! I refuse to kiss him."

"You don't have to. And _please_ don't talk about kissing my brother." Susan said, disgusted. "It's rather weird."

"Oh. Yes." Sophie said, thinking. "Ew. I would not like to hear about that from my brother's girlfriend! If he ever got one."

"I think that about Edmund. He _never_ gets a girlfriend. He went around moping at school, complaining nobody would ever love him. He's such a funny boy. I bet he'd get all defensive and off hand if he knew we were talking about him like this!"

"I can just imagine what he'd say!" Sophie said with a giggle. "I can't believe you were talking about me." She said, imitating him. "Don't ever do it again, or I won't talk to you."

"Yes, that's him exactly!" The older girl laughed. "Now shush. You move your head when you talk."

For almost fifteen minutes, Sophie sat as still as she could, keeping her eyes firmly closed. She did not wish to see how she looked. Susan was gently tugging her hair into place, and seemed to be twisting it up on top of Sophie's head. And finally, she was done.

"There." Susan said. "Perfect. Even if I do say so myself."

"I doubt it." Said Sophie, opening her eyes. "My hair will never be perfect."

"I bet Edmund will think so." Susan said, cheekily.

"What? Shu- no!" Sophie said, standing up to swat her.

Susan laughed. "C'mon, we should go."

"Do I have to?" Sophie protested, hoping one last time to get out of it.

"Yes, the date you won't kiss will be waiting." Susan said, poking her tongue out.

"Don't be so childish, Queen Susan." Sophie said in a snotty voice, before bursting out into laughter.

"Susan! Sophie!" A high-pitched voice was calling. "There you are!" The owner of the voice appeared in front of them, her golden hair left hanging loose, with a plait each side, running from above her ears around to the back of her head.

"Lucy!" Sophie said, smiling.

"Oh! Look at the colours of our dresses!" The little queen sang. "Ruby for the eldest, Sapphire for the middle, and Emerald for the youngest! We're gems!" She laughed, grabbing Sophie's hand, and then Susan's.

"Let's go dance!"

* * *

><p>Edmund stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, adjusting his shirt collar. <em>This thing will choke me, <em>he thought. _I don't want to be here. But they made me dance with Sophie. And she's a girl, I bet she'll want to be here._

_Oh god, here they come. I can't even dance; get me out of here!_

"Hello, brother." Susan greeted him, smiling.

"Edmund, Edmund!" Lucy cried, jumping up and down. "You look handsome!"

His dark hair was brushed for once, and he looked like a King.

"Edmund." Sophie said shyly, pinching part of her dress. The Sapphire blue material was fitted to her waist, where there was a beaded ring around her middle. The dress then flared out from there, forming a circle around her feet. The ends had lace over them, as did the sleeves. They were full sleeves, flaring from the shoulders. She had a square neckline, which she liked, but her chest felt bare. _I need a necklace, _she thought.

"Sophie. You look…" _Beautiful? No. _"Good." He said, awkwardly. "Shall we dance?"

"It would be an honour, King Edmund. Or are you Sir King Edmund? Does that even work?" Sophie laughed, taking his arm.

"Wait…Queen Sophie." He retorted, with a grin. "I have something for you." He pulled a small parcel from his pocket and placed it in her awaiting hand.

"What – what is it?" She asked, looking up into Edmund's eyes, confused.

"Open it."

So she did. As Sophie pulled out the gift, she gasped. It was the necklace she needed!

"Oh Edmund! It's beautiful!" She threw her arms round his neck, not thinking. She pulled back to look at the necklace. It was just the kind of thing she liked. It was a simple, delicate butterfly, and its wings had a stone set in each one. The stones were a blue, sapphire colour.

"I had Grumbleshin make it for you. I know how much you love that dwarf." Edmund teased.

"I don't love him. He just fed me and then let you have the keys to my cell, so of course I like him." She said, looking up from the necklace. "Here, put it on." She turned around, putting the clasp at the back of her neck and waiting for Edmund to take it.

He sighed, and quickly did up the clasp. "There."

"So lets go." Sophie said, with a smile.

They began to walk down the stairs, when Sophie suddenly whispered, "I don't know how to dance!"

"Neither do I, don't worry!" He said. "Hey, careful!" He said, as she wobbled on the stairs.

"It's the shoes, okay?" Sophie laughed. "Help me walk though, will you? Like you did on the way to the Witch's house." Sophie carefully placed her feet down as she descended the last few steps.

They both sighed as Sophie's feet touched down on the floor.

"Okay, lets get this over with!" Sophie chuckled. Somewhere, she caught a glimpse of a ruby red dress, and another glimpse of an emerald green one, and felt oddly comforted.

**A/N: Awwww! Ball memories in the next chapter! And did you know chapter 7, or chapter 8 if you're including the Prologue was my longest chapter? 3360 words! I can't really take credit though, because most of it came from the book. But I'm BOOK FREEEEEEEEEEE now!**

**Livy ~ xx**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: So. I'm back, with another terrible chapter of my fanfic. I got four reviews on the site, and then one in a PM, so that's five. Thanks Laura. I suppose I got 6 if you count my boyfriend, so this should have been up ages ago. Anyway I struggled with this one, so if there are any mistakes here and there, I'm sorry. I do proof read, so there shouldn't be any but… So on with ball.**

**I hit study leave on May 18th, leaving me more time to devote to fanfictions. At the moment I have writers block on chapter 11 so have stopped. Making Memories should be updated soon, and I have a fic I never intend to post I'm writing as well, so that's taking up a lot of my time.**

**I have a horse show in a few weeks, and 10 exams over the coming months. There's also the bath and west to freak out over, and prom (I need shoes, at the moment I'm going barefoot!) so everything's a little crazy right now.**

**Anyway… Lets go.**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

Chapter 9 – What Hurts The Most

Edmund and Sophie stopped, and the two of them roughly worked out a dance hold, and begun their dance. Sophie kept looking down to check her feet were in the right place. She didn't want to step on Edmund's toes. That would just be embarrassing.

"Look up." Edmund suddenly whispered in her ear, making her jump. Her head snapped up and her eyes widened in surprise. "Otherwise you look like you don't know what you're doing."

"I don't!" She hissed back, looking down at her feet again.

"You need to look up." Edmund said with a laugh.

Sophie looked up briefly to frown at him. "I don't want to tread on your toes." She said, quietly.

"It doesn't matter, just look at me." Edmund said, with a grin.

Sophie looked up, and was almost immediately lost in his eyes. _Oh dear…_ She thought. _Sheesh, I never realised how close I am to him right now! And his eyes, are they really that deep brown? They're amazing… Oh no, I'm going to step on his toes, I know I am. Oh, that's going to be bad. I warned him but – Sophie, shut up. You're babbling in your own thoughts._

They danced in silence, and usually Sophie would have found this uncomfortable and awkward, but with Edmund it was…nice.

Edmund was thinking the same thing, along with how pretty she looked. He didn't want to be here, but being here with Sophie was tolerable.

The dance ended, and they both parted. Sophie hurriedly looked around for what to do, and saw the others bowing or curtseying to their partners, so she quickly did the same.

"You can't do that, can you?" Edmund asked with a small smile.

"Not really." She laughed, "Remember I come from a different time to you, and we never did that." They were talking about her curtsey, of course.

"Mind if I cut in, brother?" Said Peter, suddenly appearing beside them. He didn't give Edmund a chance to answer, before all but pushing him out of the way and taking hold of Sophie.

"Uhm…" Sophie mumbled, seeing Edmund look at her like she was a traitor.

"That's a pretty necklace you have there." Peter said, suddenly.

"Hm? Oh!" She looked up at him, turning her head away from Edmund's retreating figure. "Edmund gave it to me." She said, with a slight bit of determination in her voice.

"Oh, I didn't know Edmund could do nice things!" Peter laughed. Sophie huffed and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Peter said, becoming serious. "I didn't know you were involved with my brother."

"Huh!" Sophie cried, her eyes widening. "Oh no, I'm not – we're not… Oh, no, ew!" She gabbled, cringing. "I like him, yeah, but not like that!"

"Oh, that's okay then. I won't have to dodge murderous glares from King over there for dancing with his girlfriend!" And Sophie didn't have the heart to tell him he was already getting 'murderous glares', as he put it.

They danced in silence, and Sophie was secretly comparing Edmund and Peter in her head.

_Peter seems to know what he's doing, and he holds me properly._

_Edmund knew about as much as me, but I had fun then. Why not now?_

_Urgh, talk about awkward science… with Edmund it was comfortable!_

_But I feel safe here; Edmund's just as likely as me to flip and suddenly hate me. Peter's more…consistent._

Unaware of Sophie's internal dispute, Edmund was sulking at the edge of the room. Stupid Peter had to come in and take Sophie away from him. He _always_ got the girls.

_He's everything I'm not. And he's definitely more 'Kingly' than me. Every time I do something good, Peter _has_ to come and ruin it_. Edmund thought angrily. _Go dance with your own date._ He flicked his eyes away from the dancing couple, and noticed someone had appeared beside him. Or more like something.

"Hey." The Dwarf said.

"Uh…hi?" Edmund said, taking a step away from it.

"Don't you remember me?" It asked. Then it laughed, "Of course you wouldn't. I look different. It's Grumbleshin, you damn moron."

"Oh! Sorry, you cleaned up. Didn't recognise you." Edmund said, gruffly.

"Oh what's up with you? And where's Sophie?" Grumbleshin asked him, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Peter took her, she's over there." He gestured towards them, without looking in their direction.

"Aha! Haha! You're jealous! Totally jealo- "

"Shut it!" Edmund growled, slamming his hand around the dwarf's mouth. "Ow! You bit me, you little sod!" He cried, pulling his hand away and pressing it to his other one.

"You put your hand over my mouth. I didn't want it there, the best way of getting rid of it was to bite it." Grumbleshin shrugged.

"I don't know what Sophie sees in you; you're foul!" Edmund said, disgusted, and still nursing his sore hand.

"That's gonna leave a mark." Grumbleshin smirked at him. "And I wouldn't tell Sophie you're badmouthing me."

"Urgh." Edmund looked at his palm and groaned. "Why not?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Grumbleshin nodded his head to indicate something in front of Edmund, before scuttling away. Edmund turned his head to look, and saw Sophie walking towards him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, "I feel mean about how Peter just pushed you out of the way. Do you want to dance again?" She offered, smiling.

Edmund shrugged. "Not really." He said, gruffly. And then he turned and walked away.

"Oh. Okay." Sophie said, staring into the spot he'd just vacated.

"Queen Sophie!" Cried another man's voice. Sophie rolled her eyes. Peter again.

"Yes, High King?" She said teasingly, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"I apologize for my brother, you see, he is not a terribly nice person." He said, extending his hand to her. "You wish to dance?"  
>"He seems just fine to me." Sophie put in a mock curtsey, and placed her hand in his. "Why certainly." And sighed as he lead her away.<p>

"I do apologise for my brother." Peter said again, as they began to dance. "And I know I have said that before, but this time…" Here he ducked his head to whisper in Sophie's ear, "I quite like you. It would be a shame if something happened to you." And he straightened up.

_Huh! What was _that_?_ Sophie thought, confused. _It actually sounded kinda menacing… but I'm sure he didn't mean it like that. Stop being paranoid, you berk. Just enjoy the attention._

Edmund scowled. How could she come and ask him to dance with her after dancing with his brother! She_ ditched _me_. _He thought, _and after I gave her that necklace!_

_Well she's your date, s_omething inside him said. _Go and get her back._

Sophie smothered a smile as she saw Edmund storming towards them with a face like thunder.

"Excuse me, Peter." He said, stiffly. "But it's my turn to dance with Sophie now." He reached out for her, but Peter pulled her closer, much to her discomfort.

"But we're not done here, are we Queen?" He muttered in her ear.

Sophie twisted her head towards Edmund and pulled a face. She hated being stuck in the middle like that.

"Peter." Edmund said in a warning voice.

"It's okay." Sophie said, trying to push herself away from him. But he wouldn't let go.

"Let her go." Edmund said softly, but there was a subtle threat in the undertone of his voice. His eyes had narrowed and his head was bent forwards very slightly. He was prepared to fight for her.

Slowly, Peter relinquished his hold on Sophie, who stepped away from him and smoothed her dress down. Then she smiled at Edmund, "Thank you."

Edmund nodded, and took her in his arms. He glanced up at Peter as he began to walk away, frowning.

"Go and dance with your own date."

Sophie burst out laughing, and pressed her face to Edmund shoulder, sighing contentedly.

Now, Sophie was lying back on her bed, grinning at the thoughts. Then she sat up, placing a hand to each cheek. Her smile dropped, and was replaced with an expression of confusion. The end of the night had been confusing. She didn't know what to make of the Pevensie boys. Obviously she liked Edmund best, even though he was temperamental and sometimes annoying. But Peter… She just couldn't figure him out.

It was clear he was the more courteous of the two, but there was something about him…

_I don't know if that's something I like or not. I feel kind of uncomfortable with him, and I don't know why. It's like I'm on edge the whole time, and he can get _really_ tiresome to someone like me._

Sophie sighed, and ran her hands through her hair. _Susan would kill me for this!_ She thought with a chuckle. It was probably a good thing the ball was over.

"Argh!" Sophie cried, throwing herself backwards, and bouncing gently on the bed amid soft sheets.

"Why did they have to both do that! If only one had, it'd make my life _so_ much easier!"

_Well, your life hasn't exactly been easy in Narnia yet, has it?_ Something in Sophie said. She laughed.

"No, I suppose not."

But as the memories of the ending came crawling back, Sophie found the need to stand on the balcony and lean her hot forehead against the cold metal railings and sigh.

"Urgh, I'm beat. I've got to go to bed before I pass out on my feet!" Sophie laughed, rubbing each eye in turn with one hand. The other hand was wound through Edmund's arm as he helped her up the stairs.

"You look it too." Edmund replied briskly. Sophie blinked at him.

"Oh thanks. If I look as dead as I feel, I feel sorry for you!" She prodded him with her free hand, and he turned and gave her a dark look.

"Uhm…"

And then he poked her back, his face breaking into a laugh.

They suddenly found themselves in a laughing fit amidst a poke fight.

"Stop it!" She squealed.

"You started it!"

Sophie wiped her eyes with her hands, removing the tears of laughter that were starting to form.

"I'm ticklish, back off!"

"You shouldn't have said that." His voice darkened.

"Oh?" Pause. "Oh! Stop, stop!" She feigned him off with mock karate motions, before doubling over in laugher.

"You are _very_ ticklish." The cheeky twinkle in his brown eyes made Sophie's laugher catch in her throat for a beat, before her eyes closed and she couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Stop!" She squeaked. "This is unfair! You're a knight! You can't do this!"

"Says the one who refused to let her maid call her Queen!"

Sophie gasped, before laughter controlled her again.

"How do you know that?"

"Susan."

"I'm gonna kill h-h-her!"

Sophie looked around her, to find that she'd backed into a wall. No way out. She looked up at Edmund, and realised how very close they were. _His eyes…so brown…_

Now incapable of coherent thoughts, Sophie's laughter died on her tongue as his eyes met hers. They were both breathing hard from their lack of breath due to laughing, Sophie's back to the wall, and Edmund directly in front of her.

If Edmund moved his head much closer to her, their noses would meet… and then their lips.

Sophie's arms, hanging limply at her sides, ached to touch him, as her eyes darted back and forth across his face. His eyes were dancing, the deep brown orbs sparkling and twinkling with mischief and delight.

Time seemed to slow down; as Sophie noticed Edmund's head move a fraction further forwards, then stop.

"Queen Sophie?" The strong voice echoed down the corridor, making both Edmund and Sophie jump.

"Uh…yeah?" She answered, as Edmund stepped away from her. She missed the closeness almost instantly, and tried to steady her breathing. Blush started to creep up her neck and colour her cheeks as she realised how close they really had been, and how easy it would've been for them to kiss.

"Ah, here you are! I wondered if I could talk to you a moment…" Peter's eyes regarded Edmund, who was now standing in a slightly defensive posture, a little in front of Sophie.

"In private." He finished. Edmunds eyes narrowed, a minuscule move Peter missed.

Sophie looked to Edmund, who looked like he'd kill her if she did, but she desperately wanted to know what he had to say. So she just nodded, and, keeping her eyes adverted from Edmund, she followed Peter a little way down the hall.

"I was wondering if I could… quite possibly… walk you back to your chambers?" He didn't look her in the eye, but his blue eyes conveyed a different task.

"I'm sorry Peter, but I agreed to walk with Edmund." Sophie said, blinking at him, slightly taken aback by his proposal.

"Well, farewell, my Queen." And before Sophie had time to react he had bent forwards and brushed his lips across her cheek. Her eyes widened, and she let out an inaudible gasp.

With that, Peter turned and disappeared down the corridor. Sophie stayed frozen in place for a split second, her eyes unable to stray from his departing figure. Then she remembered Edmund. She turned to see he was no longer there. Hitching up her skirts, she ran to where he had been and looked around.

_Gotcha._

"Edmund! Edmund! Wait!" She ran down after him, wobbling a little in her shoes, but desperate not to let him get away from her.

"Haven't you got to walk me back?" She asked, partly breathless from her run. She put a hand on his arm to steady herself.

"I suppose." He said, dismissively, not looking at her. Sophie recoiled in surprise from the coolness of his voice.

"What?" She asked, slightly defensive. "What's up with you? You were fine a second ago."

"What did Peter want?" Edmund asked, changing the subject, as they began their walk to Sophie's room.

"He wanted to walk me back." She felt Edmund stiffen beside her, and guessing by the way he relaxed almost instantly after, he hadn't meant for her to feel it.

"But I said I'd agreed to go with you. I know that wasn't true, but I didn't feel like walking with him." She shrugged. "And you're better company." She added softly.

Edmund huffed, but could feel his cheeks heating up.

They walked in silence together the rest of the way, except the swish of Sophie's dress, the clack of her shoes and the soft tap of his.

"Here." Sophie gestured with her hand. "See you tomorrow I suppose." She said with a sigh. _I don't want this night to end!_

"Yes…" Edmund said, distractedly. He seemed oddly off balance, and fiddling with something in his hands.

"Edmund?"

Then very suddenly, Edmund quickly lent forwards and, slightly harshly, pressed his lips to Sophie's cheek.

"'Night then."

Again, Sophie watched, frozen in the doorway, as Edmund's retreating figured vanished down the corridor.

_Déjà vu._

Silently, she turned, pausing only to look over her shoulder at Edmund, who had stopped at the end of the corridor and look back at her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and all the memories of the night came flooding back to them.

_There's nothing her but him and me,_ she thought.

Then Edmund nodded, eye contact broken, and they departed.

Back in the present, Sophie was leaning on the railings with her elbows, chin in her hands, remembering. Her hair curled on to her shoulders, with stray strands being caught in the night breeze and dancing across her face.

_I don't understand, _she thought, straightening up and putting one hand up to her necklace, _what does it all mean?_

**A/N: This actually isn't that long, it just feels longer than it is because it's taken me about so long to write it. And the million years to get five reviews. That took longer than I thought, so I was right about no one reading this, which isn't very good for my already low self-esteem. Anyway, enough about me. I think I'll have to update on reviews again :/ Didn't want to do that, but I've not had reviews, so I'm going to do it. Hope you liked this. Review if you want the next chapter.**

**Livy ~ **


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: I've had this chapter written for a while, but forgot because my laptop had about… 580 MB of free space. Cleared it out, downloaded some things, finished. Well, I've only got about 12GB of space free now, but that's better than not even one. Anyway. Read on.**

**DISCLAIMER: All original content belongs to C.S Lewis and HarperCollins_Publishers _Ltd. This is purely a non-profit take on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.**

_**Chapter 10 – What Hurts The Most**_

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><p>Sophie's eyes snapped open.<p>

_What woke me up?_

She'd been sleeping dreamlessly in the super-soft, four-poster bed until something – and she didn't know what – had suddenly awoken her. Her whole body was on red alert, ears straining to hear the noise that had interrupted her sleep.

_There._

Two taps in quick succession. Sophie's eyes flicked towards the direction of the noise.

_Of course, the door._

"Yeah? Who is it?" She asked, trying to disguise the sleep in her voice.

"Edmund." The person behind the door answered.

"Oh! One second." She called, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs out of the bed. She'd demanded full pyjamas, like the ones she wore at home, and someone had quickly run up a pair. They were blue satin (of course) and very basic. A long sleeved shirt that was slightly too long in the arms, and a pair of trousers, elasticated at the waist. She shuffled sleepily to the door, and opened it wide.

"Did I wake you up?" Edmund asked, incredulous. Sophie nodded mutely.

"I was pretty tired from last night and the whole day. I never really got much sleep in that stupid castle prison cell, the floor was too hard and cold." She said, walking back into her room. Edmund followed, closing the door behind him.  
>"And then I was up half the night talking to you, and then I was chasing Aslan. Then there was the coronation, and then the ball. I think I deserved a long sleep, don't you?"<p>

"So you enjoyed yourself last night?" There was a hint of nervousness behind his words, as if he genuinely wanted her to have enjoyed herself.

"Well, all apart from the times I was dancing with Peter!" She laughed, moving towards the dresser to grab her hairbrush. "If I'm honest, I enjoyed the whole night. Compared to how I thought it was going to go, it was great!" She began brushing her hair then looked over at Edmund. She paused mid-brush, suddenly nervous.

"What about you?"

Edmund smiled. "I really enjoyed myself." Then he mock scowled. "Except when you went off and left me."

"Hey!" Sophie waved her hairbrush at him. "That wasn't really my choice. One, Peter just kinda took me, and two, Susan said I had to dance with him anyway."

"Oh yes, did you have a nice gossip about me with my sister?" Edmund said, coming to stand a little way behind her, his face reflected next to hers in the mirror.

Sophie's stroke faltered. "What?"

"When you were talking to Susan, you both kept looking over at me." Edmund grinned, and Sophie swatted him.

"We weren't talking about you really. I was saying about the necklace, and then about Peter. Not gossip!" She adverted her eyes away from his, and carried on brushing her bed head. "There is a difference."

"Well, I guess I wouldn't know that." Edmund was shaking his head.

"Mmm." Sophie put down her hairbrush and, now fully awake, went into the en suite bathroom. She reappeared moments later brushing her teeth.

"You're really leaving your hair like that?" Edmund was perched on the end of her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

She shrugged. "Froo cahersh?"

Edmund blinked. "Pardon?"

Sophie dashed into the bathroom to spit, before calling, "I said, who cares?" Edmund laughed, and got up from the bed. As Sophie finished her teeth, and was quickly washing her face, he wandered out to the balcony doors.

He placed his hands on the golden handles and twisted them. He paused for a moment, before strongly pulling them open in a flurry of thin satin. A cool, sea breeze hit his face and tugged at his hair, while he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Sea air.  
>He let go of the doors and made his way across the balcony. There was a little white metal table with two chairs set on it, but he ignored these and made straight for the railings.<p>

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sophie said, making him jump. He turned his head to smile at her, noticing how her hair was flattened against her head with water.  
>His brown eyes were sparkling, and seemed a deeper brown than they had been the night before. Sophie gazed into these eyes, lost in them, and lost in thoughts.<p>

Edmund opened his mouth to say something, when a knock at the door interrupted them.

"I'll get it." She said softly, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from his, acutely aware of the fact her cheeks were heating up.

Silently, she padded across the floorboards, and pulled open the door.

"Oh." She said, surprised. Peter turned his head and saw Sophie.

"Good morning to you too!" He laughed, leaning forwards to kiss Sophie's cheek. She froze, unsure of what to do. However, Edmund's cough stopped Peter, who simply whispered something in her ear instead.

"Good morning, brother." He said, nodding his head.

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "'Morning."

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Peter added hurriedly, catching sight of Sophie's flushed cheeks and tangled hair, plus Edmund's dancing eyes.  
>"I didn't know that you two… uh… yeah." He quickly grabbed the door, and pulled it shut.<p>

Both Sophie and Edmund waited a few seconds, before erupting into laughter.

"He thought we were…!"

"He must've thought I stayed the night or something."

"That's ridiculous!"

Edmund raised an eyebrow at her. "Why is that so ridiculous?"

Sophie struggled to control her laughter. "Because you're you… and it's, it's me, and we're us and…" Sophie's inability to stop laughing caused her to cut herself off.

Edmund raised both eyebrows, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What's up?" Sophie coughed a couple of times, then grinned.

"What's so funny about us being together?"

"Everything!" Sophie chuckled softly. "I mean, it's me and you! C'mon! It's just..." Sophie tailed off, seeing Edmund's face. He looked almost hurt.

"What? What's wrong?" Sophie asked, putting her head on one side.

"Nuh-Nothing." Edmund shook his head, and then slid off the edge of the bed.

"I suppose it is funny, the idea of us being together." He sighed, and then launched into a very fake laugh. However, Sophie didn't notice this, and thought he genuinely found it funny.

_But... Compared to his previous behaviour... I'm confused!_ Sophie thought. _Change the subject, that all ways works. _

"I feel like going down to the beach today." Sophie said, turning her body towards the balcony doors and sighing.

"Huh?" Edmund said, startled by the sudden subject change. "Why?"

Sophie shrugged. "Have you seen the weather? And I just want to relax. It feels like years since I got here, not about a week. It's mad, and I want some down time." She said, walking slowly out onto the balcony and leaning her hands on the rails. She sighed, letting the cool breeze brush over her face, cooling her warm cheeks. She closed her eyes and smiled contentedly. She leaned forwards on the rails, stretching up on to her toes, lifting one foot off the ground. The wind caught her hair and played with it, tossing the loose strands about, and curling it into her face.

Edmund watched, amused. He was once worried she might tip off the edge, but her control seemed steady so he was fine with it. Slowly, he came up to stand beside her, inhaling deeply and tasting the salt air on his tongue.

"You can taste the sea from here." Edmund said quietly, placing his elbows on the railings.

"Mmmm." Sophie replied, opening one eye to look at him. "Shhh. Listen."

She lowered herself back down, and cupped one ear in her hand. The two stood in silence, and gradually different sounds came to them on the wind. The gentle crashing of the waves, the sweet singing voices of the mer-people and the faint cry of a seagull.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sophie sighed, turning her head towards Edmund and opening her eyes.

"It is." He answered softly, eyes never leaving her face.

"When's breakfast?" She asked, turning around to lean her back against the rails.

"Uh, I don't know. I think one of the Dryads are supposed to get us." Edmund looked towards the door, then out to the sea. "It looks like its about 10, so probably any minute now." He nodded at Sophie, before saying, "So you probably should get dressed."

"Oh!" Sophie said, grabbing the bottom of her top, "I'd forgotten I wasn't dressed. I wonder if I've got to wear one of those dippy dresses again..." She muttered as she walked into the room.

Edmund chuckled, and turned back out to face the sea, sighing. He folded his arms, and leant them on the rails, putting one foot backwards to balance him.

Sophie flung open the wardrobe doors, and gazed in dismay at all the dresses there.

"Urgh... I don't like dresses!" She muttered, flicking through them. After much grumbling, she finally settled on a dark blue velvet number, with a square neckline, puffy shoulder sleeves that fell to the floor. It was a plain dress, so Sophie should've been able to get into it easily. She grabbed some underwear and disappeared into the bathroom.

She dressed quickly, and then realised that she couldn't do the dress up. _Crap..._ She thought. _What do I do now?_

"Uhm... Edmund?" She called tentatively.

"Yeah?" He answered, stepping back into the room and looking around to try and spot her.

"I need help." Her voice came from the bathroom, and Edmund's eyes widened.

"I can't do this stupid dress up. I knew there was a reason I hated them." She moaned, frowning. She shuffled into the room, arms folded beneath her chest to keep the dress from falling down. She turned around, and looked at Edmund over her shoulder.

"Will you do it up for me?" She asked.

Edmund felt his cheeks start to heat up as he said, "Uh... Um, I-I I'll try."

He picked up the ties, and then paused. "What do I do?"

"Uhm... How should I explain this...?" Sophie muttered to herself.

"Simply, please!" Edmund said, overhearing her.

"Okay, you need to thread the ends through the little loops the sides, see them."

"Yeah..." Edmund said, hesitantly.

"You have to thread them from the side by my back out, and then cross them over and thread it through the other side. Like lacing up a shoe." Sophie was making hand gestures all through this speech to illustrate what she was saying and help Edmund understand better.

"Oh, and you need to pull it really tight too." She added, as he began attempting lacing it up. "Don't be afraid to hurt me; you won't. Because I'll tell you, and it won't let you lace it up any tighter, got it?"

"Mmm." Edmund said, deep in concentration.

Sophie sighed, turning her head so she was staring straight ahead. _He'll never get this, _she thought.

Edmund pulled sharply against the ties, yanking Sophie back a little.

"Not that tight!" She yelled, waving an arm behind her back to try and hit him.

"Sorry, sorry!" He muttered, pulling more gently at the ties.

Edmund carried on, this time more carefully. Sophie felt her cheeks starting to heat up as she realised just what was going on.

She could feel the heat of his hands through the material of her dress; she could hear his steady breathing as he concentrated because of the silence in the room. Worse of all, she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck where she had pulled her hair forwards over one shoulder. Her heart was beating fast and loud, echoing in her ears.

_He's so close..._ She thought, eyes widening. _Oh god, oh god, oh god..._

Edmund, oblivious to Sophie's internal dilemma for the second time, had by now managed to understand the process and had done the dress up fairly well.

"Hey, you did it!" Sophie exclaimed in surprise, as she felt the final tug at the base of her back.

"I did. How do I tie it off?" He asked, keeping it held tight.

"Tie a bow?" Sophie replied, trying to look over her shoulder to see.

Edmund deftly tied the bow, as that was the sort of thing he knew how to do.

"There!" He let go, and wiped his hands on his trousers. "Quite well done, if I do say so myself." He laughed.

Sophie spun around, letting the dress find its natural place on her. "It is." She said as she came to a stop, the end of the dress still swaying around her bare feet.

"Maybe a bit too tight, but at least if it comes loose it would be okay."

"How about shoes?" Edmund said, eyeing her toes as she walked around the room.

"Oh yes!" Sophie ran quickly to the wardrobe, her feet making a soft pattering sound against the wooden floorboards. She eased the doors opened, and peered inside. Nearly all the shoes were heeled, except for a few little sparkly pumps. Sophie quickly grabbed at a pair of these, saying something about how she didn't want to kill herself. Her hand paused as she was about to grab a pair, and then grabbed several and threw them over her shoulder, hearing them land with a clatter against the floorboards.

All Edmund saw, however, was various pairs of shoes flying out of the cupboard and landing all over the room. He smirked as Sophie punched the wardrobe door when she flung her hand back.

"Which pair should I wear?" She asked, straightening up and looking up.

"I don't know, there isn't really a pair to look at." He replied with a small chuckle and a sweeping hand gesture around the room.

Sophie sighed and quickly collected and assembled the shoes into their pairs.

There were three pairs in total. A sparkly silver pair, that were made completely covered in glitter; a navy blue pair, the same colour as Sophie's dress and with sapphire's studded to the top just over her toes; and a plain velvety black pair that had a silver bow tied to the front.

"Go for the blue pair. They match your dress. You girls like to have matching accessories, right?" Edmund said.

Sophie raised an eyebrow and placed one hand on her hip. "No we don't." She said, slowly. "Not always. But I will go for the blue pair, it's probably best."  
>So she leant forwards and scooped up the other two pairs, before chucking them haphazardly back into the wardrobe. She slipped her feet into the chosen pair, and smiled at Edmund.<p>

"Come on, Sir King Edmund, let's go and find breakfast." She said, with a small chuckle.

Edmund pretended to frown, then broke out into a playful grin.

"Yes," He said, offering her his arm, "I think that would be a good idea, Queen."

Sophie stuck her tongue out at him and took his arm, laughing.

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><p><strong>AN: I like this. I did have writers block over this entire fic, so I just had to write a fluff chapter and nothing else. It's given me time to get my head around this fic. I went through a period of hating it, so the updates were slow partially because of that. And revision etc. But I'm on 'study leave' now, so all should be okay. Lets just see how it goes.**

**Review?**

**Livy ~ xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**_SO I'M BACK!_**

Yes, it's true. I'm back! Against all odds, I came back to this fic! Unfortunately for some, but hopefully, seeing as the majority of people reading this have followed either me or this story, it's not unfortunate for you!

Okay, down to business…

I've started college, so my precious free time has been whittled down to about five minutes. Very annoying, but I'm scraping time from god knows where!

**THESE ARE MY CHANGES!**

Right, the important bit! I got majorly down on this story, and would've been honestly been glad to see the back of it. However, I got some ideas that I'm going to put into words, so there will be a long wait until the next update, but I felt I had to put something up to explain.

I am changing the title to Against All Odds (because it's against all odds I came back to this story, and fanfiction has supposedly taking down any fic related to a song) and there will be **MUCH MUCH LESS **of book content into this.

**LESS BOOK, LESS BOOK, LESS BOOK, VERGING ON NO BOOK. **

If there is any book it shall either be quoted and in italics (for direct book) and other wise will be rewritten.

No crap about Edmund either… unless it's important.

Sophie will be in much earlier and less of a stalker to the Pevensies'!

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><p>I will upload my 'new first chapter' after this, soon I hope! I'd really appreciate if you'd let me know what you think of these ideas! I don't wanna go starting this fic if it's gonna be a bad idea or something.<p>

Thanks!

Livy ~ xx


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